Human After All
by Tall T
Summary: After living in the Turnbull household for four years, Robotboy may finally be ready to become a real boy! But with a new, human identity comes new challenges for him, his friends and his 'family'.
1. The Walls Have Ears

_This is my first attempt at a Robotboy fanfic, and it could be an epic! However, I need to know if there's really any interest in this. __So if you'd like this story continue, __**please do not hesitate to review!**__ I need feedback._

_Well, on to the story…_

FROM PROFESSOR MOSHIMO'S PERSONAL NOTES

When first I created Robotboy, I said he surpassed all expectations. Roughly four years later, he has done it again.

There were no lacks of warnings from my scientist colleagues when I decided to leave my greatest creation, dare I call him my son, in the care of Tommy Turnbull, a young - very young - aspiring robot technician. I was aware of the risks of letting mere children take care of Robotboy. Nevertheless, I did so because mere children could teach him the one thing I couldn't: How to grow into a real child. A real boy. Ever since I found out that I couldn't have children of my own, I've been trying to create a child. All attempts failed miserably, until I made Robotboy. But what life could I offer him here in my secret labs, surrounded by other machinations? The life of a yet another machination, that's what. If Robotboy ever were to become a real boy, he would have to be in the company of other children. They could teach him to become human much more effectively than I ever could. So I sent him to the Turnbull household and told to pose as a toy while he stayed with young Tommy, and learned. I could have given him a cybernetic skin to make him look human, but to what use? Robotboy was far too…robotic to pass for a human, even if he looked the part. Sure enough, I let him try and use a cybernetic skin once, but then I deliberately made it so it would dissolve after only six hours. That way, he would have something to aspire towards.

That was four yeas ago, and I can't postpone it much longer. I always told him: Learn to become a real boy, to become human, on the _inside_ first. _Then_ I will make you a real boy on the _outside. _Under the guidance of young Turnbull and his friends, Robotboy has become more human than I dared to hope for. He now speaks normal English – well, _nearly _normal - but more importantly: he understands the basic social codes of humans, and he realizes that a human mind is not directed by logic alone, but also by feelings and impulses. Last year, I gave him a new exoskeleton at the size of an adolescent and reclaimed the remote control watch that I had given Tommy three years earlier. I felt that Robotboy no longer needed to be controlled by others. His sense of judgment was now well enough developed for him to be his own master, and he is never fully deactivated any more, even when he is in his "toy robot" mode. But to still be posing as a toy after all this time is, I feel, too humiliating for my greatest creation. Robotboy is ready to move to another level.

My dilemma became no smaller two years ago, when I made another problematic decision. After the Sausalito affair, my other most successful creation, Robotgirl, was left for dead – or at least, left for having been destroyed beyond repair. I decided that since all of our enemies thought she was gone for good, we had a unique opportunity to give her a normal quiet, life, shielded from the people who were out to get me and my creations. But it's not fair to Robotboy to give Robotgirl - or Robyn, as we call her now - the chance to live as a real human being while denying him the same thing. He now knows that I can make cybernetic skins that lasts for much longer than six hours, and is wondering why I still hesitate to do the same for him. His dissatisfaction is becoming increasingly evident

I'm only waiting for a sign…

***

KA-BOOM!!!

A huge explosion blasted a hole in Kaziland's east side. It hurled two figures into the sea: One was rather big, while the other one was short and stubby.

"_I blame you for this, Constantine!__"_ _the_ shorter figure shouted.

"_Yes, boss!__"_ the bigger figure responded.

Back at the remains of Kaziland, three young teens were much happier with the outcome of the day, even though one of them was currently shaking her head in disbelief.

"Mutated, cybernetically enhanced armadillos!" Lola sighed. "Kamikazi is really beginning to run out of ideas, isn't he?"

Tommy looked around. The armadillos had scattered, and they were already beginning to revert back to normal. He picked up a few random pieces of armory. "Yeah, this was almost too easy.", he agreed. "Easy victories are no fun!"

"Speak for yourself, dude!" Gus commented while he picked two candy bars out of his pocket, rewarding himself for having caused a few armadillos to crash into each other while bravely running around like a headless chicken and trying to avoid being hit by the said armadillos' laser. "Easy victories suit me just fine. I'm _all for_ easy victories!" He took a large bite of both candy bars at once and continued: "Well. I guesh thas it, then."

"Not quite!" Robotboy replied, a little more dramatically than strictly necessary, and used his cannons to annihilate one of the control panels. "That takes care of Dr. Kamikazi's camera surveillance system." , he explained. "Now we can speak freely."

"Good thinking, Ro."

"Thank you. By the way, here's a bag. I notice that you like to bring, in a manner of speaking, souvenirs whenever we been to Kaziland."

"Again, good thinking. Thanks!"

Tommy continued to study the armadillo armory's cybernetic components. Occasionally, he would put some of the more interesting parts into the bag. Then, a few minutes later, he began searching closets and shelves.

At that point, Lola tapped him on the back. "Tommy? Not to sound prudish, but don't you think it's wrong to go through Dr. Kamikazi's personal items like this? I mean, he's bad and all, but two wrongs don't make one right."

"I'm just looking for secret weapons that he might be hiding.", the boy explained. "You never know with Kamikazi. If he's hiding dangerous items, it would be more wrong to leave them here."

"Yeah, I understand that. It's just – " Lola's cell phone rang. "It's from Robyn", she said, moving to another end of Kamikazi's war room to answer the call with some more privacy. Meanwhile, Tommy took a bottle out of a safe that had been smashed open.

Gus, who had been studying him with mild interest, pointed at the bottle. "What's that?" he asked

Tommy examined the bottle. "Well, it's labelled…uh, 'Love Potion X'"

"Gee, I wonder what _that_ does!" Gus sarcastically commented.

Tommy smiled. "I see your point; Kamikazi isn't very creative when it comes to naming stuff. I wonder, though, did he really make a working love potion? We should have it analyzed."

"I can test it on our P.E. teacher!" Gus volunteered, grinning.

"Very funny, Gus"

Tommy's attention was drawn to Robotboy, who appeared to be staring longingly out of the big hole he had just made in the wall. He walked over to his friend.

"Penny for you thoughts, Ro."

"You won't like them. My thoughts, I mean."

"Why? What are you thinking?"

Robotboy looked down at the sea below them, where Dr. Kamikazi and Constantine were now clinging to a piece of driftwood and trying to stay afloat.

"Kamikazi is, how you say, a sitting duck." Robotboy began. "I will not actually do this, but I'm thinking: From this distance I could easily blast him. It would be over in a second. I spare Constantine, but Kamikazi, he die instantly. And then he would never be a threat any more."

"_Ro!!_"

"I just said I will not actually do it! I would never kill anyone. But that's what I was thinking of."

Robotboy looked guiltily at his best friend.

"Does that make me bad? Does that make me… inhuman?"

"No, I guess all humans think like that sometimes. Only for a little moment, and only when they're angry or sad, but they do. Come to think of it, if you killed him, I guess that would've been pretty typical human behaviour as well. But it would be the wrong way of being human."

"I know. That's why I would never actually do it."

"Good man."

Robotboy shrugged. "Yes, I hope to become one, someday."

"But Tommy? I been thinking about something else…"

"Yes?"

"Why don't we just turn Kamikazi and Constantine over to the Police?"

Tommy shrugged. "I'm afraid it's not that easy, Ro. Professor Moshimo has been trying to report Dr. Kamikazi for plotting to take over the world for years, but there's just not enough proof against him. He usually destroys the evidence, and he always runs away when there are too many witnesses. I'm sure you've noticed how he's always trying to avoid being seen by my parents."

Robotboy hung his head. "But there must be something more we can do! So far, we are only stopping him when his plans are already in motion. We should be more, how you say, proactive!"

"Ro, you weren't serious about – "

"I told you, I don't plan to kill Kamikazi. But there are other ways of being proactive."

Robotboy turned around and walked back inside, followed by Tommy.

"Robyn just called to say that she told my dad the backup story." Lola explained to them. "Then she called your parents and told them the same thing", she continued, looking at Tommy. "And then she went down to your parents' house and told them the same thing.", she finally added, looking at Gus. "Why can't your parents get a telephone? They used to have one, didn't they?"

Gus shrugged uneasily. "Yeah, but they cancelled it because having a telephone leads to temptation or something…"

"Like running a bookie shop, for instance." Tommy added dryly.

Lola gasped. "You're a bookmaker?"

"Well, it's not like it's illegal."

The rest of the groups scowled at him.

"Okay, so it is. But everyone's doing it!"

Uneasy silence.

"Well, my folks never give me an allowance. I had to think of some way to make a bit of money."

"We can discuss this later.", Tommy said diplomatically. "Did Robyn say anything else, Lola?"

"Well, she was a bit disappointed that she couldn't come with us..."

"_She_ got nothing to complain about!" Robotboy commented with a sullen voice.

"Come on Ro, it's not fair that she always have to stay at home while the rest of us – "

"Not fair? I tell you what is not fair!" Robotboy snapped. "It's not fair that my 'sister' get to lead a normal life as real girl in your lap of luxury –" He turned to look at Tommy and continued: "- While _I_ still have to pose as a toy; a fourteen-year old kid's toy, no less! It's not fair that even though I have the power to level cities, I still live in a backpack!"

Ro turned around and walked away, stomping his feet demonstratively.

"Now, if you excuse me, I'm going **home**!" he said sarcastically, crawling into Tommy's backpack.

Lola looked at Tommy in confusion and guilt. "So… what do we do now?" she asked awkwardly.

"We'll just have to wait. I've seen Ro like this before. Just give him a few minutes to calm down."

"Tommy, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's all right. It's my fault, really, I should've told you. Ro has been a bit touchy recently. He's wondering why Professor Moshimo hasn't given him a cybernetic skin and a human identity yet."

"Well, why hasn't he?"

"Who knows? Maybe he wants to see who manages the best – Ro as a robot with superpowers or Robyn as a 'human' without superpowers."

"Then why didn't he remove her powers, instead of just installing a blocking chip in her head to stop her from using them?"

"Juts to play it safe, I guess. Speaking of which, she's not suspecting anything, is she?"

"No, as far as I can tell, Robyn still thinks she is perfectly normal. Except for the fact that she was originally a robot girl, of course"

"Good…"

Tommy looked at his backpack. Robotboy, who was still sitting in it, frowned at them.

"Anyway, I'll take this up with the professor, first chance I get", he finished. "Now, let's find a place to sit down. We may have to wait for a little longer."

***

Twenty minutes later, the superactivated Robotboy took off from Kaziland, and Kamikazi and Constantine finally dared to walk back inside.

Kamikazi growled. The heroes were supposed to leave the villain's lair as soon as their mission was completed. It was common courtesy! Yet Robotboy and his posse had stayed at his headquarters for half an hour. For half an hour, they had been roaming freely inside his private property. And what had he been doing? Waiting patiently for them to leave! The humiliation!

Kamikazi and his large henchman looked around. "They sure made a mess", Constantine commented flatly.

"We'll clean it up. And by "we", I mean _you_.", Kamikazi muttered, and threw a broom at him.

Kamikazi sat down, wondering why he wasn't angrier about the disastrous outcome of his latest plan. He should be having a fit of rage right now, wowing terrible revenge on his enemies. But to his horror, he realized that he had no fighting spirit left in him.

"I'm getting too old for this.", he sighed.

"Oh, don't say that, boss, you're still a very dangerous, threatening…"

"Stop sucking up to me, I'm not in the mood. I'm losing my grip, and you know it!"

Kamikazi got up and began walking around restlessly.

"And I'm running out of time. The children are growing up. They're getting bigger and more resourceful, and what's worse: Robotboy is growing up too, figuratively speaking. He's getting smarter, and that's a real problem His gullibility was his main weakness. I'm losing my advantage."

"Are you saying you're giving up, boss?"

"No, but I need a fresh, new approach. I need to come up with a _new _plan, rather than just using old, recycled ones over and over…" He suddenly looked rather thoughtful.

"They were here for rather a long time", he commented after a pause. "I wonder…"

"Wonder about what, boss?" , Constantine asked, as his employer and ward walked towards the partially destroyed control panels.

"I'm going to find out what they were talking about before they left. I have a hunch that I might be able to find out something important."

"But boss, Robotboy destroyed the cameras" Constantine pointed out.

"Yes, but in my wisdom I made a backup plan. I have an advanced recording system installed in the walls. The walls have ears, so to speak. They are recording everything that has been said within these premises."

He began removing some of the plates.

"Ah, still in working order!" he exclaimed. "Constantine, fetch my headphones!"

Confused, the henchman handed Kamikazi the big, lumpy headphones that he still preferred to small earphones. Then he went on with his business of cleaning up.

However, for the next few minutes, Constantine couldn't help but noticing his boss' facial expressions changing rapidly from anger to mild annoyance, to mild amusement, to slightly worried. Until….

It seemed like he was rewinding one particular piece of recording and listening to it over and over again.

Then finally, he started to laugh. It was a foreboding malicious laugh, but Constantine found it very reassuring. It meant that his boss was in a good mood again,

"My instincts did not fail me, Constantine!" he burst out. "Those foolish kids have inadvertently given me _vital information_!"

He took off his earphones and got up.

"The Sausalito affair was just a ruse! Robotgirl is not dead!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "And the best thing is, she still got her powers only she can't use them!"

Constantine stared blankly at his boss.

"I'll explain it in more detail later" Kamikazi "Suffice to say, one of professor Moshimo's most powerful weapons is up for grabs! Opportunity isn't knocking; it's kicking in my door!"

_To be continued…_


	2. Robot Sister

_Welcome back, everyone! _

_Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you will continue to read this story and enjoy it. And please remember to review!_

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Lola had overslept. It was half past ten on a Saturday morning when she entered the Mbola residence's kitchen. Of course, her adopted sister Robyn was up already, but she didn't need much rest anyway. Currently, she was making breakfast.

Robyn was an Asian girl with tall, pink spiky hair - Or at least that's what she looked like. In fact, her skin was made out of synthetic matter. So was her hair, which was large and bushy in order to hide the two large nodes that were sticking out of the sides on her head. The skin was there to hide the fact that her body was made out of metal and plastic. Nobody else in the household knew about this. Not the family Doctor. Not Lola's dad, Kingsley Mbola, the powerful diamond tycoon and diplomat. Not even Vivian, Lola's stepmother and her dad's current wife, who was practically like a mother to Robyn. Nor did they know that Robyn's background story – that her divorced mother had died, and her father was an undercover policeman who couldn't take care of her without putting her in great danger – was a lie. And of course, they didn't know that Robyn was actually a robot created by a noted scientist and inventor named Keiichi Moshimo. Lola was not proud of lying to her family and household, but she did it for a good cause – To give Robyn a chance to lead a normal life and grow into a real girl. And Robyn was doing well for herself. She was speaking normal English, she was getting very well along with the family, and she was fitting nicely into Lola's circle of friends at school. Sure enough, she was more naïve than her 'brother' Robotboy, as she hadn't been confronted by their (mostly) mutual enemies as often, but her emotion chip usually guided her on the right path.

"I thought I saw dad in the living room just now.", Lola casually mentioned as she walked towards one of the fridges.

"That would probably be correct." Robyn replied.

"I thought he had to attend to a conference meeting in Seattle this morning."

"He had to cancel it due to heavy fog in the area; no plane can land in the Sea-Tac Airport. Waffles?"

"Yes, please. But really Robyn, you shouldn't spoil our chef by doing his work."

"Is only breakfast. Besides, I'd be spoiling myself if I never do any chores around here."

"Fair enough."

"But Lola? I have a question…"

"Yes?"

"Maybe is nothing, but I notice something about Robotboy. When he, Tommy and Gus came to visit us last week, he never once spoke directly to me. And whenever I run into Tommy at school, and Robotboy is sitting in his backpack, Robotboy suddenly stops talking – Even if there's no-one else around. "

The "sisters" exchanged slightly nervous glances before Robyn continued:

"Do you think something is the matter?"

"Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that", Lola began. You see – "

She was interrupted by a loud crash, as a compact aircraft went through the kitchen ceiling. The impact made both girls fall over. As Lola got back on her feet, she could tell that the ship belonged to Dr. Kamikazi. With him, it was never very difficult to tell: Like most of Kamikazi's machinations, this one had his logo, a big, encircled "K" stamped on the front.

But why would he attack her in her home, and why would he attack so _openly_, at that? That wasn't his style.

In keeping with this dramatic entrance, a hatch opened in the aircraft, and standing on a ramp, Kamikazi himself slowly rose out of the craft.

"Oh, don't mind me, miss Mbola, I'm just here to pick up some supplies.", he said, laughing at his own dry humor. "Constantine!", he barked. "There's the girl! Go get her, and hurry!" The henchman jumped off the craft and went towards the two girls.

Robyn put herself in front of Lola.

"If you want to abduct Lola, you have to go through me!" she announced bravely.

"Now, why do you think it's her we want…", Kamikazi said with a grin as Constantine picked Robyn up, "…_Robotgirl?_"

Lola ran towards Constantine, wanting to try and knock him off his feet. But the henchman predicted her move, and kicked her in the stomach. By the time she got back on her feet, Constantine was already climbing back into the aircraft while holding Robyn with a firm grip. It was harder than it looked, for while Robyn didn't have super-strength anymore, she was still built to be stronger than a normal girl of her size.

Lola jogged her mind, desperately trying to think of something she could do to help. Trying to convince Kamkiazi that Robyn wasn't really Robotgirl, probably wasn't going to work. Kamikazi wouldn't have pulled a stunt like this unless he somehow _knew _that Robyn was Robotgirl. He wasn't _guessing_.

"Let go of Robyn!" she yelled at Constantine, pointing at her wristwatch. "Or I'll superactivate her!"

Constantine hesitated slightly, and looked at Robyn.

"She's bluffing." Kamikazi responded calmly. "She's not capable of superactivating her."

Constantine continued climbing, and Lola gritted her teeth. "I admit it!", she shouted to Kamikazi. "She _is _Robotgirl! But she's powerless! I mean, if she still had her powers, she'd be wiping the floor with you guys now!" she argued. "So what good is she to you?"

Kamikazi laughed again. "She's powerless _for the moment_, but as soon as I remove the blocking chip in her head, I will have my superweapon!

Lola's heart sank. There was nothing she could do to bluff him; Kamikazi knew _everything_. Robyn, who had been struggling to get out of Constantine's grip until now, suddenly stopped moving. "_What _chip? Lola, what does he mean? I still have superpowers?"

Lola looked despairingly and guiltily at her friend, as Constantine dragged her aboard.

"All right, what's all this commoti…"

Lola turned around and looked into her father's eyes. Robyn noticed that Lola and Kamikazi both seemed equally startled by Kingsley Mbola's presence. Mr. Mbola, on the other hand, looked more angry than shocked to see a small, scarlet aircraft in the middle of his kitchen.

"What is this, a terrorist attack in my own house?" he shouted.

"Boss, you said that the ambassador wouldn't be home today." Constantine pointed out.

"I know!" the self-proclaimed doctor snapped. "I don't get this! Well, we got what we wanted, anyway. Let's just hurry up and get out of here!"

Kamikazi closed the hatch, and the aircraft took off before Mr. Mbola had even realized that the "terrorists" had taken his adopted daughter with them. He turned to Lola.

"What just happened here?" he demanded. Who was that man?"

"It was Dr. Kamikazi, dad!"

"Kamikazi, the mad scientist? But he is just a myth!"

"No dad, he's real! And he just abducted Robyn!"

"But why? Is this Kamikazi an enemy of her father?"

"Well… yes, in fact, that's exactly what he is." Lola answered. And that was the truth, even though it was still a bit misguiding as far as her father was concerned. But she still wasn't sure if it was wise to tell him the _whole_ truth. And right now, she didn't have the time.

For the moment, her father looked terribly perplexed by the whole situation. Lola decided to take advantage of this to get out of the house before he attempted to ask her more questions.

"Call the police, dad!" she shouted, and ran out the door, while picking up her cell phone. _– While I call someone who can actually help_, she added in her mind.

TO BE CONTINUED

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_(A/N: In case you're wondering, I made up some of the details regarding Lola's family in this chapter - Like Ambassador Mbola's first name (although I thought I heard someone call him "Kingsley" in an episode). I also made up Lola's stepmother Vivian, and the idea that the Mbola family fortune comes from diamonds. Lola's father is supposed to be so rich, and the money's gotta come from _some_where. ) _


	3. Halfway To Kaziland

_Hi everyone! _

_Thanks for the all the reviews! I'm very happy with the response I've gotten so far! To Triple Death Core: Since you didn't have an account, I couldn't thank you personally, but I've left a response to you at the bottom of this page. Also, thanks to "Stacie" (whom I couldn't thank personally before, either) for a very nice review! (You're not the same person as Stacie3488, are you?)_

_BTW, parts of this chapter probably makes more sense if you've seen "Valentine's Day" and "Robotgirl", as I make direct references to these two episodes. But even if you haven't, you'll still be able to follow it._

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TEN MINUTES EARLIER:

Gus rarely bothered ringing the doorbell or in any other way announcing his arrivals at Tommy's house any more. There seemed to be an implicit understanding that Gus could come by anytime without being invited to do so. On occasion, the Turnbulls had let Gus into the house and allowed him to stay and watch TV, even when Tommy was out. This Saturday, however, Tommy was still inside as Gus entered his room – Unannounced, of course.

Tommy, on the other hand, barely noticed him at first. He and Robotboy were sitting by the desk, examining something in a test tube.

"What are you guys looking at?" he asked with mild interest.

Tommy turned towards his friend: "Oh hi, G-Man. We're trying to figure out Dr. Kamkazi's serum."

"What serum?" Gus leaned over and looked at the bottle next to the tube. "Oh, the love potion."

"Unfortunately, chemistry is not my strongest suit", Tommy said.

"Have you tried taking this stuff to an actual chemist?"

"I've considered it, but what would I say? If I try and tell a college professor that this is supposed to be a love potion, he'll think probably it's some lame attempt at a prank."

He turned towards Robotboy.

"The only one we know who might have been under the influence of Kamikazi's love potion is Ro - You know during that Valentine's Day affair four years ago…"

Mentioning the old Valentine's Day affair seemed to create a general feeling of awkwardness in the room. Gus looked disgusted, while Tommy suddenly began feeling guilty. He knew the reason why, but he didn't want to share it with anyone quite yet.

"Sadly, I can't help you much." Robotboy finally said. "I told you all I know: That when Kamikazi's Cupid robot hit me with that arrow, it all went blurry, and my memory disc went out for one hour. You said that I spent most of that hour with Gus, so I guess only he remembers…"

"I don't want to talk about it..." Gus muttered.

Ro shrugged. "It can't have been that bad", he argued, "I don't even have…"

"I said _I don't wanna talk about it_!"_, _Gus hissed.

Ro sighed. "Lips", he finished. "I was going to say, I don't even have _lips_. So I could not even have _kissed_ Gus, love potion or not."

"By the way, Gus", Tommy butted in, seeing that it was time to change the subject, "Lola wants the iPod you borrowed from her back, ASAP.

"What's the hurry?"

"She says she needs it for when she goes to visit her relatives in Cassaia next week."

"Where?"

"Cassaia. That's where Lola was born. You probably haven't heard about…"

"Republic in southern central Africa, situated between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, named after the river Kasai, which runs through the country. Area 260 545 square miles, population 8 300 150, chief exports diamonds, copper…"

Tommy stared at his friend with his mouth wide open. Gus was probably the last person he thought would ever have bothered to memorize facts about a foreign country, even if they had a friend form that country. Just the other day, Gus had failed to point out the state of California, let alone the Bay Area, on a map at school.

"Uh, I did an extra credit geography lesson" Gus said with a grin of embarrassment.

"Since when do you care about extra cre -", Tommy began, but was interrupted by a call on his cell phone. He picked it up.

"Oh hi Lola, we were just…calm down please, I didn't quite get… WHAT? How… how does he know? Uh huh…. Yes of course, I'm going to tell him right away. We'll be right over!"

Tommy hung up, and turned to Robotboy and Gus, who looked anxiously at him. Well, at least Robotboy did.

"I recognized Lola's voice pattern." he stated. "What she said?"

Tommy scratched his head. "Kamikazi just kidnapped Robyn! Apparently, he knows that she's Robotgirl. Not only that, he knows that her superpowers can still be activated. He and Constantine are taking her away in one of Kamikazi's aircrafts right now."

"Really…", Robotboy muttered as he walked towards a window. "Hey I can see it!" he exclaimed as he looked out.

"See what?"

"Kamikazi's aircraft, is right over there!" he added, pointing at the sky.

Tommy looked out. Indeed, there was distant airship in the sky high above the San Francisco. It was so far away and blurry that Tommy wouldn't have recognized it, but of course, Robotboy had amplified vision.

"Great, let's go after it!" Tommy exclaimed, preparing to climb onto Robotboy's back. "Just remember to pick up Lola on the way…"

"No!"

"Ro, Lola's gonna get pretty mad if we go and rescue her adopted sister without her."

"That's not what I mean! Tommy, listen: Kamikazi, he is obviously prepared to fight over Robyn, but on his own ground - That is to say, in Kaziland!"

"Yes obviously. But what choice do we have? We've got to go to Kaziland, then!"

"Maybe not…" Robotboy commented as he shaped his hands into one large blaster cannon. "Tommy, you remember what I said the other day about being more proactive?" He pointed the cannon out of the window.

"Yeah, but we… wait a minute, you're not actually going to…"

"I am." Robotboy stated, and fired.

The blast from the cannon was loud enough to make even Gus get out of his comfortable position in a bean bag chair, and move towards the window.

"Instead of taking the battle to Kamikazi…we take Kamikazi to the battle!", Robotboy declared firmly. And without another word, he flew out the window.

Gus peeked out the window, but to his disappointment, he didn't see Kamikazi's ship - only Robotboy, who was already so far away that he was little more than a dot in the horizon.

"Did he get it?" he asked Tommy, who seemed to be in shock. "Did he shoot down Kamikazi's aircraft?"

"Y…yes" Tommy muttered.

"So where do you think it crashed?"

Tommy shrugged, still shaken.

"Downtown, probably."

Gus hesitated for a moment, before he gave a reaction that could be considered typical of him:

"_Cool!__" _

Tommy was starting to pull himself together. Dragging Gus along, he hurried outside

"C'mon G-Man, we gotta to stop this! I have no idea how, but we gotta stop this somehow. It's a big enough disaster as it is!"

***

ABOARD DR. KAMIKAZI'S AIRSHIP:

She had been struggling hard as Constantine dragged her aboard, but now that she was aboard and most definitely a captive, "Robyn", a.k.a. Robotgirl acted surprisingly calm. She just stood there and stared at Constantine. That worried him.

"Mr. Constantine", she said eventually, "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?" the large henchman responded, confused.

"Dr. Kamikazi once tried to kill you, and I saved your life. Yet you help _him_ abduct _me_. I don't understand why."

For a while, Constantine just looked at her dumbfounded. He hadn't been expecting their kidnapping victim to try and start a conversation with him, and certainly not on this subject. For a moment, she made him think. Actually, what she said was technically true. The first time Dr. Kamikazi abducted Robotgirl, he eventually decided that she was useless to her. Then, on impulse, had he not only tried to destroy her; he had also been had been willing to let Tommy, Robotboy and Constantine die with her. On the other hand…

"Even so, Kamikazi is my boss.", he said to her. "Besides, you weren't really trying to save me; you were trying to save yourself and your friends."

Robyn frowned. "At least I _save_ my friends!" she snapped. "Unlike someone I know of, who tried to _kill_ the only friend he -"

Robyn's outburst was interrupted by a loud boom that caused the ship to shake uncontrollably.

"Constantine! Release the parachute functions!" Dr. Kamikazi yelled panickingly from the cockpit. "We need to make an emergency landing!"

CONTINUED

* * *

_To Triple Death Core: __Thanks for the comments! When it comes to your own story, the best way to get it posted on is obviously to create your own account at this website. Now, you were also wondering if you should make the story three or four chapters long. That's a good question; I've been unsure about chapter lengths myself. I guess it depends on where you think it's a good place to end a chapter. It also depends on how far in advance you're working; Personally, I don't write entire stories in advance (except for one-shots). So for the moment, I've decided to split my fanfic into short chapters so that I can update more often. If I was writing the whole thing in advance, I would probably feel more comfortable about splitting it into longer chapters. _


	4. Exposed!

_Hi, everyone! This chapter took a little longer to finish than I expected, and for that i apologize. I don't have too much experience writing fighting scenes, and I guess that's why it took such a long time. _

_Once again, I have a few messages to Triple Death Core at the bottom of the page. But now, on to the story:_

* * *

Things were not going according to plan for Dr. Kamikazi. First, Miss Mbola's father was _supposed_ to be out of town today. But not only was he at home for some reason, he had also seen him and Constantine in he act of breaking into his house and kidnapping the robot that was legally his adopted daughter. And Kingsley Mbola was a wealthy man, and a diplomat. He would go to the press with this story, and they would listen to him. For years, Dr. Kamikazi had carefully avoided being seen by the parents of those meddlesome kids he kept running into. He couldn't believe how easily he'd made that mistake now.

Second, and worst of all, someone had shot down his ship while it was still over San Francisco. He had been expecting to make it safely back home to Kaziland, where he would deactivate Robotgirl, make a full body scan of her and use the blueprints to clone an army of super-powered robots. Meanwhile, his brand-new genetically engineered tyrannosaurus-shark hybrids would keep Robotboy and his helpers busy when they eventually and inevitably arrived at Kaziland to try and stop him.

It was a small comfort, however, that the aircraft appeared to have landed in an empty warehouse. Maybe he could get the craft up and running again before anyone took notice. He had a spare engine, but it needed powering up. Kamikazi climbed out to examine the damage. It appeared that someone had shot a hole in the fuselage, an observation which worried him all the more. He was hoping that this had been an accident, but no, someone had deliberately fired at his aircraft. He found a fuse box, and connected the spare engine to it. But it would take several minutes before it was operational.

"Constantine!" he shouted to the henchman, whom he had ordered to remain inside the ship with Robotgirl until further notice.

"Yes, boss?"

"Get out of here! But make sure that Robotgirl stays locked up inside."

"Yes, boss!"

Kamikazi took a box out of his robe, and smiled smugly. Even when several things went wrong, he still had a backup plan.

"Done and done, boss." Constantine said, coming up behind him. In the background, the two villains could hear Robotgirl pounding at the fuselage. "What now?"

"Now we wait", Dr Kamikazi said confidently.

They didn't have to wait very long before a superactivated Robotboy arrived at the warehouse.

Looking around, but seeing only Kamikazi and Constantine, he demanded: "Where is my sister?!?"

"Robotgirl is fine." Kamikazi assured him smugly. "Only she's locked up in my aircraft."

As Robotboy prepared to move towards the craft, Kamikazi continued: "But I wouldn't try anything right away, if I was you." He held up small detonator. "The craft is rigged with explosives, and if I push this button, they will all go off at the same time. Robotgirl will be blown to smithereens along with the ship."

Naturally, Robotboy hesitated.

"Now let's negotiate!" he laughed. "First, you have ten seconds to revert to normal mode, or I'll push the button!"

Kamikazi had had the foresight of bringing along a particle beam weapon in the shape of a small gun. It wouldn't work on Robotboy in his superactivated mood, when his armour was too thick, but it was strong enough to disrupt the robot's circuits when he was in his normal mode. Kamikazi had brought it to this mission, specifically in case he would have to have a premature run-in with Robotboy. And if it worked according to his "Plan B", he might have both Robotgirl and Robotboy in his lab this afternoon.

Robotboy hesitated for a couple seconds before he did as he was told. At the very same moment that he finished reverting to his normal mode, Kamikazi pulled the particle beam gun out of his inner pocket, and fired it straight at the robot, who reacted by shaking uncontrolledly

For a moment, it looked like Robotboy was burned out, but then he got back up again, slowly. Kamikazi prepared to fire again, when he was distracted by someone throwing a rock at him. It hit his face. Then another one hit his hand, and made him lose the gun.

"Robotboy, are you okay?", said a voice from the entrance. It was Lola.

"I will be... just give me... one minute...." Robotboy rattled.

"Constantine, seize her!" Kamikazi shouted.

The large henchman moved towards the girl, but backed down when he saw her pulling a gun out of her purse. Lola slowly moved the gun in the direction of Dr. Kamikazi. "Don't pick it up!" she demanded, as she noticed that the short man was reaching for his particle beam gun. But Kamikazi had courage. He leapt forward, trying to reach it. Lola responded by firing a few shots randomly and nervously into the air; it was obvious that she was not used to guns. Having picked up his own gun, Kamikazi got back on his feet. And with a confident smile he pointed it at Robotboy, who was still trying to pull himself together. Lola heart sank; she realized that this was probably a calculated risk on Kamikazi's behalf. He knew she wouldn't have the courage to shoot directly at him, for fear of hurting him badly. Robotboy yelled as Kamikazi shot him one more time with the particle beam gun. The robot fell over, and Kamikazi prepared to shoot him for the third time when he was distracted by a familiar voice:

"Hold it right there, Doctor Kamikazi"

That was Tommy Turnbull, who was currently running towards him with his fat friend standing nervously in the background. Constantine moved towards Tommy, but halted when Lola fired a few shots at the ground right in front of him.

"Oh, for…! Constantine, stop the children with this one!" Kamikazi commanded, throwing his servant a small, shiny rectangular thing. Constantine looked like he knew what it was for. Tommy and Lola didn't, but they both instinctively ran to the side when Constantine threw it at them.

"Children?" Gus objected. "Baldy, I'll have you know that I'm nearly fif…"

That's all he had time to say before the object, that was obviously some kind of hand grenade, blew up, throwing Tommy and Lola to one side and Gus to the other.

Tommy figured that he's probably passed out for a brief moment. When he regained consciousness, he noticed he was lying behind a pile of rubble. He was slightly bruised, but otherwise okay. He looked over at Lola. She also looked unharmed, but for some reason, she was crawling around, feeling her way across the floor.

"How are you, Lola?"

She turned. "Fine, I think. But I lost my contacts."

"You're using contacts?"

Lola looked at him as if he was stupid.

"Yeah, and I haven't lost them in ages. Fortunately, I got some spare glasses", she continued to explain, picking a pair out of her purse. "They'll have to do for the moment."

"Now then, we'd better..." She noticed that Tommy was staring at her. "What, are my glasses that ugly?".

"No, no, that's not it at all. It's just that... your eyes... they are brown!"

Indeed; they were light hazel.

"Well, of course they're brown! Did you think my eyes were naturally blue? It's the contacts that make them this way."

"I see…" Tommy commented, and continued to look at her. "Have you considered using contacts that doesn't change your eye color? You got very nice, brown eyes."

Lola hesitated. Did Tommy just compliment her on her eyes? He had never done anything like that before.

"Do… would you like it better that way?"

Tommy didn't get a chance to answer, as the two teens were brutally reminded that there was still a fight going on when Robotboy came crashing through the pile of rubble that Constantine's grenade had created. He was still in his normal mode.

"Ro, why aren't you superactivating?" Tommy asked.

"Kamikazi's gun disrupted my superactivation functions!" he explained. "Self-repair process is in motion, but is going to take a little while longer!"

"Robotboy!", came Kamikazi's voice from the other side of the pile, "Come back and face me, or I'll throw another grenade at you and your friends!"

Robotboy shrugged, and took off. "In the meantime, I just have to dodge him", he finished, and flew back to the heat of the battle.

Feeling somewhat helpless at the moment, Tommy looked around. He noticed that Gus was lying right in front of him in a fetal position, whimpering. But then, he often did that kind of thing in a dangerous situation.

"G-Man, are you okay?"

"I-i-is it over yet?" he whined.

"I'll take that as a yes.", Tommy muttered.

Actually, it had gotten pretty quiet, all over a sudden. Then suddenly there was a flash of light and a noise that all three teens knew very well. Tommy took a peek, and nodded. "I guess the self-repair process went faster than first expected!" he said smugly.

Faced with the superactivated Robotboy, Dr. Kamikazi was feeling less self-assured. However, he still had a chance, he thought. The detonator he had used to threaten Robotboy with was lying on the ground just a few feet in front of him. If he could get it, he would have the upper hand again. However, as he reached for it, he heard something that upset him far more than even the sound of a superactivating Robotboy.

"…Reporting live from downtown San Francisco, where two individuals are fighting against what seems to be a super-powered robot. Our sources imply that these individuals could be the mysterious Dr. Akira Kamikazi and his servant, Constantine Santos. Both are wanted by the authorities, but for years, they have only been spotted randomly."

Dr. Kamikazi turned slowly, and observed not just _one_ news team, but a whole bunch of them. It looked like every TV station and newspaper in the Bay Area had sent people down to this empty warehouse. Someone must have noticed the noise, and tipped off the press. Kamikazi was cold sweating. He usually got away before the media showed up, if they showed up at all.

If he didn't think all was lost then, he thought so a moment later. That's when he heard a noise from the aircraft. Robotboy had just ripped off the deck, and was currently helping Robotgirl out. As on cue, the reporter lady who had been talking a moment ago, continued:

"Now the super-robot is helping out a young girl who appears to have been locked inside a small aircraft. This girl might just be Robyn Lee, the ward of businessman and Ambassador Kingsley Mbola. The ambassador reported Dr. Kamikazi to the police for kidnapping less than one hour ago…"

A crowd of random spectators applauded as Robotboy put Robyn down. The sudden, overwhelming attention distracted him long enough for Dr. Kamikazi to act. He picked up the spare engine, grabbed Constantine and jumped back into the aircraft. Amazingly, the spare engine had enough power to make the craft take off. It staggered a lot, but it got off the ground and flew out of the hole in the ceiling. Robotboy tried to fire at it again, but his aim was blocked by a crowd of spectators and journalist, all of whom were enthusiastically trying to get his attention.

About one minute after Dr. Kamikazi's apparently successful escape, a large limousine arrived at the yard just outside the warehouse followed by an armada of police cars. Of course, Tommy, Lola and Gus all knew that the limo belonged to Lola's father. Lola's stepmother Vivian was the first one to get out of the car. The moment she got sight of Robyn she ran right up to her and hugged her tightly, sobbing hysterically. Kingsley Mbola himself got out of the limo slowly and with more dignity. He went over to Lola, but there was far more anger than concern in his eyes as he came face to face with his daughter.

CONT.

* * *

_To Triple Death Core_

_First, I appreciate it when you leave reviews. But when you want to leave personal messages, please do so by sending them directly to me. You can do that by going to my homepage and click the "send message" option on the top left._

_Second, you don't know how to get your own account? Well, that's simple: Click the "sign up", option, which is on the top right corner, and take it from there._

* * *


	5. Whatever Happened To Robert Rilby?

_A/N: Diclaimer: I don't own anything except for my OC Vivian Davies. Oh, and some of the characters' first names were my idea, too._

_A lot needed to be cleared up in this chapter, so I made it a little longer than I expected. Enjoy (I hope), and please contine to review!_

**Chapter Five: Whatever Happened To Robert Rilby****?**

Three hours.

Tommy looked at his watch. It had been three hours since Robotboy left the warehouse without another word. Three hours since Lola's father had dragged Lola and Robyn into his car without another word.

It had been the longest three hours of his life. He had tried to call up Robotboy. No reply. He had tried to call Lola, and then Robyn, on their cell phones. He only got the answerer. He had tried to call Professor Moshimo, but he didn't respond either. Finally he had tried to call the Mbola residence, where the butler had taken the phone and explained to Tommy that none of the family, including Lola, was available at the moment.

And so there was nothing Tommy could do but wait, and watch the news reports about Robotboy's latest battle with Dr. Kamikazi. Already now, the media was using the name "Robotboy", even though Ro hadn't said anything to the press. But maybe that wasn't such a surprise. After all, Robotboy had been spotted several times over the years, despite Tommy's attempts to keep him a secret. The rumors were probably starting to spread long before this happened. But at least all the TV reports suggested that Robotboy was some kind of hero. Even Lance Cosgrove, the nosy, moronic tabloid reporter who used to call Robotboy a menace, was praising him today. By now, all of the Bay Area had probably had a chance to see the TV clips of Robotboy rescuing an innocent young girl from nasty terrorists. At least that's what they made it look like.

But Tommy was worried. Gus looked calm, but then, he had a habit of taking annoyingly lightly on situations where Robotboy's secret identity was compromised.

"Dude, you've done all you can." he argued. "All that's left for us is to sit back and wait for…hey look, we're on TV!"

And indeed they were. Tommy and Gus were only seen in the background, but it was clearly them. Tommy wondered how his parents would react if they saw that, but decided that he was probably safe. There was nothing in the footage to suggest that he and Gus were directly involved; it looked as if they both just happened to be there at the time.

His cell phone rang.

Tommy picked it up, and for a minute or so, he just listened. Then he said: "Yes of course, we'll be right over!", and immediately got off the couch. What's the big deal?", Gus just about had time to ask before Tommy dragged him off the couch as well.

"It was Lola. She wants us to come over to her house!"

"What else did she say?"

"That's all". For the moment, that was all he needed to know. They would get answers soon enough, he figured. For the moment, anything seemed better than to remain in the dark.

***

But when they finally arrived at the Mbola mansion, it worried Tommy that Lola seemed to be as clueless as him. And neither Robotboy nor Robyn was anywhere to be seen.

"Lola, what's going on?"

She sat down and sighed. "I don't know! Dad didn't even question me when we got home! He just told me to stay right here in the living room and wait. And he looked so mad that I didn't dare to object."

"What about Robyn?"

"Vivian took her upstairs as soon as we got home. I haven't seen her or spoken to her since."

Tommy's heart sank as he realized that Lola didn't seem to know anything more than he did. Just like he and Gus, she had been waiting for hours for an answer.

"So why did you ask us to come over right now?"

"Because our butler told me that dad wanted you guys to come over as soon as possible. But I have no idea why – " Lola interrupted herself as the door to the kitchen opened, and her father came slowly walking in. What really got the kids' attention, however, was the two figures that came up right behind him. Tommy, Lola and Gus collectively gasped as they recognized Robotboy...and Professor Moshimo.

The ambassador merely nodded in response to the gasps of surprise.

"Mr. Moshimo called me up a mere fifteen minutes after Dr. Kamikazi's…intrusion." He explained. The information he has been providing me with for the last few hours have been illuminating, to say the least!"

"Father…" Lola began nervously, "What the professor has told you…"

"The good professor has told me _plenty_!" Mr. Mbola interrupted brusquely. "Now, I already knew that your friend Tommy's robot toy was a little…larger than life. What you neglected to tell me, however, is that this so-called toy -" he pointed at Robotboy "- is sought after by a number of terrorists and criminals. For some reason, you also forgot to mention that you've personally confronted these criminals a number of times, that you've put yourself in danger, that you have on occasion been taken hostage, and even risked your life!!"

He paused. Nobody else dared to say a word.

"My only daughter repeatedly risked her life, and I didn't even know! And to think I was worried when the fake ambassador took you hostage! How was I to know that this sort of thing was happening to you and your friends practically _all the time_?"

He paused again, but it was obvious that he wasn't finished yet.

"But I'll say this, Lola - For a while, the professor actually managed to take my mind off the fact that you stole a handgun from my cabinet.", he remarked venomously. "That in itself is quite amazing!"

He began walking in circles around Lola.

"Now I'll admit I'm in two minds about this", he said in slightly mellowed voice, "On the one hand, you've been putting yourself in great danger without even letting me know anything about it, without giving me the chance to protect you! On the other hand, you've been showing bravery, fighting spirit and initiative – qualities that have always been greatly valued by the Mbola family."

Lola tried to smile. "Yeah, I have, haven't I…"

"Don't get too full of yourself, young lady!" the ambassador snapped. "You're still in a lot of trouble! Just the fact that you stole and used one of my guns is bad enough, no matter what reasons you might have had. And in this case, that's just the tip of the iceberg. There must be repercussions!"

He paused only fractionally.

"First of all, you are of course grounded!"

"For how long?" Lola asked meekly. But not meekly enough for her father:

"_For as long as I decide!_", he snapped in response, reminding everyone who was present that this was Kingsley Mbola, _the father_, speaking – not Kingsley Mbola, the diplomat. The difference was that Kingsley Mbola, the father, did not negotiate,

"I understand."

"Effective immediately!"

"I understand."

"Second, I'll be installing a tracker in your cell phone."

Lola suppressed a sigh, and repeated:

"I understand."

"Third, our annual family visit to Cassaia is of course postponed indefinitely."

"Mr. Mbola, sir?" Tommy interrupted while carefully putting a hand on Lola's right shoulder. "Can she have visitors?"

Mr. Mbola shrugged. "I see no harm in that. But not from the robot!", he said pointing at Robotboy.

Tommy wanted to object, but from the look of the ambassador's face, this was not the time to try and to push his luck.

"Although you will be seeing him at school.", professor Moshimo pointed out.

Everyone looked at the professor, but Mr. Mbola was the only one who looked like he knew what he was talking about.

"Actually, professor" Tommy began "Nowadays, I don't bring him to school very often…"

"Well, from now on, Robotboy will be bringing himself to school."

It took quite a few seconds before it began to dawn upon the others what he was talking about.

"Bringing myself…?"

"What do you…"

"Are you saying…?"

The professor nodded. "Yes, Robotboy. I realize now that it's high time you got a chance to live like a real boy for a prolonged period. I'm giving you a cybernetic skin that is made to last…and while it's going to take some time to get the formalities in order, you may take a human identity."

For a moment, it was so silent you could've heard the drop of the pin. Then:

_WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!! _

…was all Robotboy had time to say before he flew with great speed, straight into professor Moshimo's arms, glomping him so hard that they both fell over.

"I'm sorry professor" he said embarrassed, helping his creator up, "But I just got so happy that I wanted to. –"

"I understand that. Anyway I'm fine." The professor assured him with a smile.

"So professor", Tommy interfered, "When will we…well.."

"Oh, we're going to my headquarters very soon, and prepare a skin. I've got an aircraft parked in the garage."

Kingsley Mbola harked.

"As soon as I've had a few more words with the ambassador.", he added.

The two middle-aged men went out of the Mbola residence's enormous living room.

"I can't say I envy you right now, Lola" a woman's voice said. "But I must admit, if I were in your father's place, I probably would've reacted in the same manner."

A slender, elegant woman in her early forties with brownish blonde hair, wearing a brightly green gown, came walking down the stairs. Tripping right behind her was Robyn in a blue-striped shirt and dark jeans.

Kingsley Mbola had been living in America for ten years. Therefore, it seemed a bit backwards to some that he had gone back to his native Africa to find a _white _wife. Vivian Davies came from a British family that owned one of the largest farms in Kenya. She and Kingsley had met at a conference in Nairobi four years ago. She could not have children of her own, and apparently that was one of the main reasons why she had never married before.

"Vivian! You know about…?"

"Oh yes. Your father insisted that the professor told me everything."

"But how…are you okay with…well…"

"It's going to take some time to get used to the idea, but I'll be fine, dear. We both will be"

"I'm not going anywhere, Lola." Robyn added reassuringly. "We are still family!"

Vivian put her right arm tightly around Robyn. "The professor explained that he started making robot children because he couldn't have children of his own, and at least I can sympathize with that. There have been times when I wanted children so badly that I too would be willing to resort to extreme measures..."

The conversation went on, but Tommy left the room. After all that had happened today, he needed to clear his mind. Also, he needed to go the bathroom.

But as he passed the kitchen, he heard voices from behind the kitchen door

"_It'll be okay, your E__xcellency, I think Dr. Kamikazi is going to lay low for a while." _

"_Lay low? He invaded my house this very morning!"_

"_That's because you were supposed to have been away today. He thought there wouldn't be too many witnesses. It's always been Kamikazi's strategy to avoid being seen, but now he's put in a compromising situation."_

Tommy stopped. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but couldn't resist.

"_I don't know…I think it would be safer if I just sent Lola away to a boarding school."_

"_With all due respect, your E__xcellency, I think that would just make her unhappy."_

"_There are bigger things at stake than my daughter's immediate happiness. I don't want her to get caught up in the same power play as her mother…"_

Tommy changed his mind; he didn't really want to hear any more of this. But as he hurried onwards to the bathrooms, he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd just heard. Did Mr. Mbola really consider sending Lola away to a boarding school? And what did he mean by what he said about Lola's mother? Didn't her mother die from cancer when Lola was four? He seemed to remember Lola telling him that once. So what did the ambassador mean when he talked about a "power play"…?

By the time Tommy got back from the bathroom, however, the only thing on his mind was: Was Lola going to be sent away? The thought made him sick to his stomach - More so than he thought it would. But he decided not to say anything.

***

I took half an hour before professor Moshimo and the ambassador finished round two of their private conversations. At least that's when they came back from the kitchen.

"Can I come with them?" Lola asked her father as they all walked to the massive garage where the professor's aircraft was parked.

"What part of _effective immediately_ did you not understand?", Mr. Mbola said dryly. Lola sighed.

We won't be long, Lola", Tommy assured her.

And so Moshimo, Tommy, Robotboy, Robyn and Gus took off in the ship, and left for Moshimo's current headquarters in the Mexican Alps. Robyn had wanted to stay behind to console Lola, but Lola had insisted that she went along to witness this important moment in her brother's life.

"I already made a costume that'll suit Robotboy's present needs", The professor explained as they entered his lab. "But it wasn't made to last more than a six hours, so before I left, I told Mui-Mui to have it dipped in my special fibre-enhancing liquid for a few hours. By now, it should be ready for long-term use."

Mui-Mui, professor Moshimo's taciturn wife, came walking towards them with a piece of cloth in hand, nodding in response to the professor's explanation.

"It should last four months without requiring maintenance", the professor explained as Mui-Mui handed the skin to Robotboy. "But just to be on the safe side, I want you to deliver it to me every third month, just like Robyn does with her skin."

"Oki-dokey" Robotboy said gleefully as he put on the skin.

Tommy had never seen neither Ro nor Robyn in the process of putting on a cybernetic skin before. It looked weird at first, as if Ro's skin was melting and he was trying desperately to keep it attached to his body. But when he had finished adjusting it, the fit was perfect.

Ro's new skin had the appearance of an Asian boy, roughly the same age as Tommy.

Gus giggled. "He's got the same freaky hairdo as the last time he went human!!"

Ro frowned at him. So did Robyn, who had the same hairdo.

"The spiky hair stays. It's needed to hide the nodes sticking out of Robotboy's head." Professor Moshimo explained. "And now, Robotboy will need a human name."

"Well, the last time I used human skin, I had the name Robert Rilby." Robotboy commented.

"That's no good; Mrs. Culpepper knows you by that name." Tommy pointed out.

"I thought she had been demoted and transferred to a school on the East Coast ages ago." Gus said.

"Yeah, but we shouldn't take any chances. She was obsessed with Robotboy, and if she ever comes back for some reason, she'll take notice of that name right away."

"Tommy is right." Moshimo agreed. "Well actually, I think Robert would be a good name, since it will be a smooth transition from calling him Robotboy or Ro. But we're going to need another last name."

"Robert Moshimo." Robotboy suggested.

"You want to use _my_ name?"

"What would be more fitting? You're my dad!"

For a moment, the professor was utterly speechless.

"That's…that's very nice of you to be thinking that way, my boy. But I'm afraid that would be a bad idea. My enemies know that name, and if they were to learn that a young man by the name of Moshimo is attending to a middle school in the Bay Area, they would get suspicious."

"I see", Robotboy said, nodding.

"You should pick a more common name."

"How about… Robert Jones?"

Tommy, Robyn, Miu-Miu and the professor looked at each other. Nobody seemed to have any other suggestions at the moment. The professor shrugged.

"It'll do."

"So where do we go from here, professor?" Tommy asked.

"I will get Robot…Robert some fake ID so he can go to school. It might only take a couple of days. Until then, he'd better stay here"

None of them asked the professor where he would get fake ID from. When he created an identity for Robyn two years ago, his answer to that question was simply "you're better off not knowing."

As for the rest of you, I can fly you home now, if you'd like."

Gus and Robyn both nodded.

"Let me off at Lola's place" Tommy told him. "I think she'd appreciate some company right now."

"What am _I_, chopped liver?" Robyn said sulkily.

"I think she'd appreciate even more company right now." Tommy added with a smile. _Besides, there's something I need to talk to her about_, he added in his mind, _Before it's too late. _

"As you wish, Tommy. You kids go get seated. I'll be with you in a minute."

"Okay, dad!" Robotboy said cheerfully, running towards the ramp.

As professor Moshimo went to pick up some spare fuel, Mui-Mui noticed something about him.

"Keiichi, you are crying." she commented. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, dear. In fact, these are tears of joy. Oh, I know it's silly, but…" he sniffed again.

"But…?"

"He called me _dad_!" the professor whispered. "_Twice_!"

* * *

CONTINUED


	6. I Bless the Rains

**Chapter six: I Bless the Rains**

_A/N: This chapter is told almost entirely from Gus' POV_

Weeks passed.

A new kid had been enrolled in Gus' school - a kid with vaguely Asian features and tall, spiky hair. His name was Robert Jones. Apparently, he was an exchange student from Singapore, and he was staying with wealthy industrialist Orlando Gilbert's family. Someone had found out that Orlando Gilbert was a close business associate of Kingsley Mbola. When coupled with the observation that Robert had the same kind of hair as Robyn, and that they were both Asian-looking, this lead to a rumor that Robert and Robyn were secretly brother and sister. They were occasionally teased about this, but the rumors weren't really taken seriously, and nobody dwelled much on it.

In the meantime, Robotboy had developed a taste for playing superhero. Granted, he was mostly doing trivial hero deeds, like saving people in need and stopping robbers. But of course, the press ate it all up. In the department of supervillains, there was not much for him to do nowadays. Moshimo was right about Kamikazi; he had been laying low ever since kidnapping attempt. Yakitari and Bjorn were at large, but neither of them had been seen for months. Protoboy was presumed dead - Well, destroyed, anyway. Afoncügel was no longer a problem.

Gus was sitting alone in the school cafeteria. For some reason, neither Tommy nor Lola was anywhere to be seen today. He was getting used to Tommy visiting Lola, often leaving him behind, because, as Tommy kept reminding him over and over again, Lola was still grounded, and needed visits to be cheered up. But that didn't explain why they were leaving him behind at school. "Robert" was not at the cafeteria either, but at least Gus knew why. Two minutes earlier, they overheard a news report about an armed robber who had hijacked an elderly couple's car at the Golden Gate Bridge, after which Robert suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. Currently, the increasingly familiar figure of Robotboy was flying towards the Golden Gate Bridge, a spectacle that caused everyone in the cafeteria, except for Gus, to leave their lunch on the table and run towards the windows to catch a glimpse of the Bay Area's new favorite superhero. Even Robyn went over to the windows, although she had a sullen look on her face – Probably because Mr. and Mrs. Mbola had expressively forbidden her to pull stunts like that, with professor Moshimo's consent. Robyn was the only one of his friends who was at the cafeteria at the moment. But she was sitting with Lola's friends, who were also her friends, and they were the "in" clique. Gus knew there was no way he'd be allowed to sit anywhere _near_ them. A handful of those friends were currently going on about how cool and amazing Robotboy was. Gus sighed. He could probably score some serious brownie points with those girls, just for _knowing_ Ro personally. Unfortunately he couldn't tell anyone that he was a close friend of Robotboy's – If he tried to prove it, Tommy would kill him.

Besides, that trick wouldn't work on the one girl that Gus really wanted to impress.

***

Since Gus never got any allowance form his parents, and there was only so much junk food he could mooch from Tommy's family, he was forced to make his own money. His parents forbade him to bring a TV into the house, but they had allowed him to buy a laptop as long as he paid for it out of his own pocket. Of course, what they didn't know was that he could easily use it to get internet access from external, unsecured networks.

Not that Gus' parents ever expected or demanded much from him – Not even that he should wear conservative clothing. They dragged him to service every Sunday, but that was about it. Of course, he realized that the moment he tuned eighteen, he would probably be thrown out of the house, unless he agreed to stay in the congregation – And there was no way he was going to do that. They already considered him an apostate, and told him so. Gus didn't like long and difficult words, but he'd found out that "apostate" means someone who has forsaken his group or congregation. And that was fine by him. If he wasn't an apostate, he wouldn't have been allowed to wear casual clothes or own a laptop. If he wasn't an apostate, he would've spent his days milking cows, chopping wood, and reciting psalm verses.

Gus sat home alone, pondering on his little secrets while playing random music on his laptop -

_I hear the drums echoing tonight  
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation  
She's coming in 12:30 flight  
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation_**[1]**

- When it knocked on the door

"Who…who's there?" Gus asked anxiously.

"_It's just me, G-Man_.", said Tommy's voice from the other side of the door.

"Oh... er… well… just a minute. Don't come in until I say so!" Gus moved around a few things.

"_Okay…_"

Forty second later, he let Tommy in.

"Tommy", he said nonchalantly, leaning back in his beanbag and pretending to be more interested in his laptop. "Long time no see…"

"I know I haven't been around a lot lately…"

"That's for sure. To what do I owe this honor?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about…"

Gus looked at his friend. Tommy seemed just a tiny bit nervous, for some reason. That wasn't like him, but he preferred him that way. For the last few weeks, Tommy had been almost annoyingly cheerful, in Gus' opinion.

"Shoot."

"Can I sit down?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Tommy moved towards Gus' small couch. "I'm just gonna remove this lumpy blanket…"

"Wha – NO!"

But it was too late. Tommy had already removed the blanket, only to find out that the lump was actually a bunch of…

….pictures of Lola. Lots of them, some of which were framed. And a bunch of library books entitled:

_Interracial Dating for Dummies_

_People and P__laces in Cassaia_

_Poor Man, Rich woman: Courting between Social Classes_

Tommy looked at the pictures and the books, and then at Gus' guilty expression.

"Oh no… don't tell me you're in love with Lola."

Gus stared at the evidence presented against him, then looked down and sighed.

"Well, can you blame me, man? She's got everything! She's good-looking… rich… classy… exciting… a snappy dresser… rich…"

"You already said she's rich."

"I like that in a woman!"

Tommy rolled his eyes, and then he sighed.

"Well… this is gonna get awkward."

"Yeah, tell me about it! I just know what she's gonna say: That she's very flattered, but that she just thinks of me as a friend…"

"She's probably also going to tell you that she's already seeing someone."

"She is?" Gus said surprised. Then he calmed down a bit "Well, of course, you would know, seeing how much time you've spent with her lately."

"Uh, yeah, and that brings me to the –" , Tommy began, but was interrupted.

"Well, good for her! It's time she moved on! She never said so, but for a while, Lola had a major crush on you, did you know that?"

Tommy looked more and more awkward with every second.

"Uh, yeah, I heard some rumors…"

"So who's this new guy? Someone we know?"

"Yeah, in fact, you know him very well."

Again, Gus looked very surprised.

"Well, that kinda narrows it down…wait, it's not Ro, is it? Cause that would be just a little bit too kinky…"

"It's not Ro!" Tommy said annoyed.

"Well, it couldn't be Donnie, so that leaves us with y…" Gus stopped to think for a second. Then he gasped while he slowly raised his right arm and slowly pointed it in Tommy's direction.

"I think you finally took the hint.", Tommy said with an apologetic grin.

Gus eyes narrowed. "So _that's _why you always had to hurry over to Lola's place after school without asking me to come along, Casanova! You didn't want a fifth wheel!"

"It… it was going to be a surprise" Tommy said weakly. "I thought you would be happy for us. But of course, after what I found out today…"

"I don't believe this!" Gus bellowed "For years she was nothing more than a buddy to you, but just as soon as I was going to… well, _planning _on making a move, you suddenly decided you're in love with her after all?"

"It wasn't _that _sudden." Tommy protested.

"No? Then how long have you been wanting to - ?" Gus said, and made kissy noises.

"For about a year."

"_A year??_ Then why didn't you act sooner? It's not like she would've said no!"

"I wasn't sure about that." Tommy objected. "She didn't really seem all that interested in me for a while. And also, she kept defeating me when we were playing video games. Girls are supposed to let boys win if they're in love with them, right?" He paused. "So anyway, I stopped thinking about it - Until last year, when I noticed I was getting these butterflies in my stomach every time I saw her..."

"I get it, spare me the mushy details. So what made you decide to make a move after all?"

"I overheard Lola's father said something about sending her to a boarding school, so I decided it was now or never."

"Boarding school? Really?"

"Well, it looks like he's not really gonna do it after all. The Professor talked him out of it. But it made me think. I decided I had waited long enough." Tommy paused momentarily. "And it wasn't a moment too soon.", he added in a dreamy voice. A foolish, but happy smirk suddenly spread all over Tommy's face. It was a smirk which Gus recognized, but which reminded him of another girl:

"What about Bambi?"

"What about her? She's ancient history. She was just some floozy I had a crush on in elementary school. Looking back, I don't know what I saw in her, really."

Gus grinned. "Dude, you should tell Lola that! She'd be thrilled!"

"I did, and she was." Tommy confirmed, and returned the grin. Then he got serious again.

"So…" he began hesitatingly, "are you okay with…you know, all of this? I mean, despite the fact that you… uh…"

_The wild dogs cry out in the night  
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company _

_I know that I must do what's right__  
Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti  
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become_

For a moment, Gus looked away. Then he looked down. Then he raised his hand.

"The best man won, dude. Congratulations"

Uncertain, Tommy reached for Gus' hand, and shook it.

"You mean it?"

Gus shrugged uneasily. "Of course I mean it! But now I suppose you must be going. A certain someone is probably waiting for you…"

"Actually, that what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, last afternoon, Lola's dad caught us…well…"

Gus smiled gloatingly.

"All right, he caught us making out."

"Uh huh", Gus nodded, grinning even wider than before. "And then what?"

"Fortunately, he took it nicely. But I'm not allowed to visit Lola again for as long as she's grounded. As Mr. Mbola put it, if he allowed me to visit Lola after this, it wouldn't be a punishment for her any more."

"I can see what he means", Gus said, snickering. "But what's you point?"

"My point is, now that Lola and I can only be together at school.... I hope you don't mind if we get a little…"

Gus made kissy noises again.

"Like that?" he asked dryly.

Tommy blushed, looking a little annoyed. "Yeah, like that"

Gus sighed. Did he have a choice, really?

"You won't tell Lola about… you won't tell her my little secret, will you?"

"Of course not."

"Then we have a deal."

_I bless the rains down in A__frica  
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had_

***

Gus and Tommy spent the whole weekend together, something which they hadn't done in a long time.

"That was a great movie", Tommy exclaimed as they walked out of a theatre Sunday evening.

"Yeah, except for the part where you put your arm around my shoulder" Gus pointed out dryly.

Tommy smiled nervously. "Well, I got kind of carried away during the scene where the hero was making out with that lady. For a moment there I guess I forgot who I was with, and it was so dark, and…" he groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"Gus, I'm terribly sorry!" he said desperately and groaned. "Sheesh, I've only been away from her from two days, and already I'm going crazy!"

"Well, you'll get to see her again tomorrow, Lolaholic." Gus looked at him with an expression of smug graciousness and continued.

Anyway, I forgive ya. Heck, the feeling was mutual!"

"Uh, what do you mean, mutual?"

"When we were next to each other in that theatre, _I _also wished that _you _were Lola!"

"They both laughed. It was a tense laughter, but it helped.

***

Monday morning became a nightmare for Gus, and for once it had nothing to do with Kurt giving him wedgies or the popular girls commenting on his weight or clothes. No, the people who turned this morning a nightmare were his best friends. Gus was beginning to feel nauseous even before they had entered the school building, when Lola's limo dropped her off at school, and Tommy greeted her with the words:

"Oh, I've been missing you so much!"

"I've been missing _you_ so much!"

"I've been missing you more!"

"Noo, I've been missing _you _more!"

"Noooo, I've been missing –"

"Shut up and kiss me!"

And it just kept getting worse as the day progressed. On top of it all, Ro was listening attentively to Tommy's sweet talk, even taking notes. "Tommy has a girlfriend, and you do not, so it makes sense that I should listen more to him in this matter." Ro explained. "And no offense Gus, but the pick-up lines you used to give me were no good. I mean – "Is it hot in here, or is it just your?" Were you serious?"

By lunch hour, Gus deliberately sat down by another table, and made sure his back was turned to avoid the sight of his two best friends flirting with each other. However, just the sound of their obnoxious giggling was almost enough to spoil even _his_ appetite. Almost. Fortunately, it was a nice day, so much to Gus' relief, the two "lovers" decided to have lunch in the schoolyard instead. For five minutes, he sat alone in relative quiet. Then he suddenly heard thunder in the distance, and squealing voices from the outside. He walked over to one of the big windows and noticed that everyone outside had been surprised by a cloudburst, with hail and all. As Gus noticed Tommy and Lola, both soaking wet already, running panickingly inside, he allowed himself a tingle of schadenfreude.

***

On the Norwegian **[2] **mountainside, there are recreational cabins that are bigger and more luxurious than most people's homes. The Bjornson family's recreational cabin was bigger and more luxurious than most millionaires' homes. It certainly had more than enough space for a couple of extra guests.

A young, lanky blonde man in a suit, accompanied by an armored android copy of himself, greeted the family cabin's newest guests:

"Dr. Kamikazi! Mr. Santos! I'm so glad you decided to accept my offer."

"Well, it was either that, or continuing to live with my mother."

"I don't want go back there!" Constantine whined. "She thinks I'm a lady!"

"Well, except for your physical size, that's an easy mistake to make", Kamikazi said mockingly.

"She thinks I'm _your _lady!"

"Uh, way more information than I needed!" Bjorn scoffed. "Anyway, I heard about your home and all its belonging being confiscated by the CIA. It makes me very sorry."

"Spare me your hypocrisy, Bjornsen!" Kamikazi snapped. "The truth is, you're happy about this, aren't you? You think you've got me where you want me, don't you?"

Bjorn grinned. "Well, I _was_ going to suggest we cooperate, for our mutual benefit."

"What mutual benefit? You only want to destroy Robotboy as a trophy for your own robot double." Kamikazi commented, looking at Bjornbot.

"Oh no, that was when I was young and stupid." Bjorn said calmly. "My ambitions are a little bit higher now. Just like you, I need Robotboy alive, as it were."

Kamikazi scoffed. He saw no reason to be relieved by this piece of information. If there's one thing an ambitious supervillain really has reason to be worried about, it's another, equally ambitious supervillain.

"And why should I listen to you?" he asked defiantly.

"Because _he_ will listen to me.", Bjorn replied, pointing at a ledge in the ceiling.

"Who…?"

Kamikazi and Constantine both looked up, then gulped.

***

_**To be continued. Please review!**_

_Footnotes:_

_[1] The song lines and the__ very title of this chapter is taken from Toto's major hit song __**Africa**__. That song has always been one of my great, guilty pleasures._

_[2] It seems to be a bit unclear where Bjorn Bjornsen (or was it Bjornson?) is from, but since he has a Scandinavian name and lives in a mountainous region, he's probably from either Norway, Sweden or Iceland. I've chosen to make him Norwegian because it's more fun for me that way – Since I'm Norwegian myself. _


	7. Gather the Troops

_Monday…_

Bjorn Bjornson went over to the panorama window of his luxury cabin's living room.

_He actually came_,Bjorn thought to himself, as he watched the spacecraft land on his front yard. And to think they called him mad when he had a landing craft ramp installed on his mountain property. He walked outside to greet his latest guest:

"General Yakitori! I'm so glad you could make it!" Bjorn exclaimed.

"This had better be good.", the old cyborg muttered as he slowly halted out of his ship, putting his bionic peg leg first.

"It is, old chap, it is."

"I can only assume it concerns Moshimo and his creations."

Bjorn shrugged. "Am I that predictable? Oh well. You are of course right. Now, I know that you have limited interest in Robotboy, but I am forming a group of people who have at least some experience with fighting him. And I would like your participation."

"What's in it for me?"

"I am quite the skilled robot technician myself, General. I'm sure you have body parts you'd like to have exchanged."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with my – ", Yakitori began, before his voice suddenly tuned out. He pulled a string in the back of his neck and continued:

"- Components! Well…maybe just a few upgrades would be nice." He admitted.

Bjorn nodded. "It's ironic. Robotboy was created as a machine, but he's trying to be a man. You were created as a man, but have spent you adult life trying to become more and more of a machine."

"Just don't ask me to hurt young Tommy. I had this…fling with his grandmother and…well, I get a little sentimental.", the general admitted.

Bjorn grinned.

"Maybe, you're not as much of a machine as I thought." He said jovially. "Well don't worry sir, I won't ask you to hurt young Turnbull." He coughed. "But if someone else wants to do it, I might not be able to stop them."

***

For once, Gus was late for lunch. When he entered the cafeteria, the room was buzzing more than usual. Confused, Gus looked around to see if he could find someone who would explain him what everyone was talking about, when Lola suddenly pushed a card into his hands.

"What's this?"

"Take a good look at it, 'cause it's something you're seeing for probably both the first and the last time in your life" a snorting girl's voice told him "It's an invitation to a party."

It was a voice Gus knew better than he wanted to. It was the voice of Portia Gibbons, one of Lola's friends from the in clique – or rather, someone that Lola tolerated because they were both part of the in clique.

"Yes, thanks, but I don't think he was asking _you_, Portia." Lola remarked before she turned to Gus: "My grounding period ends on Sunday", Lola told him "And I'm celebrating it by throwing a major party on Saturday. Dad and Vivian are even going to be away, and it'll be huge! Everyone's gonna be there!"

"Yeah - Maybe _too_ many. Seriously Lola, do you _have _to invite _him_?"

"It's my party, Portia, and I'll invite whoever I want!", Lola snapped. "Besides, Gus is one of my oldest friends."

"What_ever. _It's exactly that kind of sentimental attitude that'll keep you away from the top of the clique!"

"Let's be fair to Lola, Portia." Another girl's voice butted in. "Now that she's dating Turnbull, she's kinda _has_ to include that bloated carrot. It's like a package."

"Well, maybe it's time Turnbull chose his friends more carefully as well." Portia turned to Lola: "He _is_ dating his way upward on the social ladder. It's time he acted accordingly."

Lola frowned at the two girls, who barely seemed to notice this as they left.

"Gus, I'm sorry about that", she said, looking guilty.

Gus shrugged, trying to look cool. If he couldn't have Lola's love, he didn't want her _pity _either. "What, for the way the Portia and Gwen spoke to me? Oh, I've heard worse."

"Worse than 'bloated carrot'?"

"You'd be surprised."

Naturally, this didn't make Lola looks much less guilty.

"Well, anyway…you'll come to my party, then?"

"Hey, as long as you've got food there, Portia and Gwen can insult me all night for all I care!"

"Ahem, yes about that, Gus… I have a suggestion…."

***

_Saturday…_

"I don't quite understand, Lola." Robyn commented as the Mbola household's girls were getting ready for the party. "I thought you wanted to celebrate the end of your grounding period with you and Tommy going on your first date, alone!"

"Well, I _was_", Lola admitted. But dad suggested a party… I guess he was beginning to feel guilty. And when he promised that he and Vivian would even be away – how could a say no to an offer like that? Everyone's so excited about this! I've never been more popular than right now, Robyn!"

"So you admit, you just like to show off!"

"Well, yeah. But you will benefit from this too, you know. You and Tommy."

"I guess…"

"And Portia is almost completely sidelined right now." Lola added.

Robyn smiled "_That_ is worth a party, for certain!"

Lola had forgotten how many invitations she handed out, although according to Robyn, it was exactly thirty-eight, and that according to her quick head-count, there were forty-three guests present, currently standing in the front yard outside her house. That was expected, because Lola had allowed some of the guests to invite others as well.

Standing up in the front was Tommy, who waved and smiled at her before he put his hands in his pockets and flaunted his roughed-up hair nonchalantly. Lola smiled back at him, somewhat overbearingly. Tommy had matured so much over the last few years, but he was still vain enough to think roughing up his hair a little made him completely irresistible. Triumphantly she walked out on the porch, preparing to address her guests. She cleared her throat.

"Please, can I have your attention for a moment?"

The buzz died down.

"Thank you. Now, like I've already said, my parents aren't home tonight."

There was a general murmur of approval.

"And you won't be seeing any chaperones tonight, either."

There was a murmur of even greater approval.

"However, that doesn't mean that there aren't any."

There was a general murmur of slight disappointment.

"There are cameras everywhere" she explained, "and while some of them are easy to spot, some are expertly hidden. So don't ever assume that you're out of sight. Now I've been asked to introduce Captain Charles Kadinga…"

There were more than a few giggles, until a black man who was seven feet tall and had shoulder as wide as the front of a car, appeared in the doorway. Even Constantine would've dwarfed next to him. He was wearing sunglasses and an Italian suit that was probably tailor-made – since it was hard to believe that a suit jacket of that size could have been factory-made.

Lola nodded. "Yes, most people stop laughing at the Captain's name when they meet him. Anyway, he's a mercenary, a veteran from various armed conflicts on three different continents."

"Four!" the large man barked.

"Four, yes. Sorry, sir. Anyway, Captain Kadinga will be in charge of security and surveillance tonight, and you do _not _want to have to answer to him for _any_ reason, believe me –"

All the guests looked like they believed her.

"Thank you sir, that'll be all for now", Lola said to the big man, who promptly went back inside.

"Remember, he's watching you.", Lola added, before she made a gesture for Tommy to come up and join her at the porch, and he did.

"So I wouldn't try anything _too_ funny, if I were you." She continued. "You can probably imagine for yourself what would be 'too funny'. However, as a general rule –" she smiled and grabbed Tommy by the collar. Then she kissed him, long and intensely, until all the other guests were whistling, wooing and cheering out loud.

" – _This _is _not _considered too funny!" she finished, letting go of Tommy and grinning triumphantly at the crowd, who began clapping.

"Now, let's get this party started!" she announced, and the crowd went wild with cheer.

As the guests poured into Into the Mbola residence's living room, and Gwen complimented Lola for putting on a show before the party had even started, the young hostess looked bewildered around:

"Hey, where did Tommy go?"

Gus, who was standing right behind the two girls, looked towards the porch, and rolled his eyes. Tommy was still standing on the spot where Lola had left him, with a stupid grin on his face. _Man, she really did a number on you, dude _, Gus thought to himself, _You lucky so-and-so_.

"He didn't go anywhere" Gus told Lola, and pointed. "I think you put him in a trance. Don't worry, I'll go and get your concubine."

Lola giggled delightfully, probably at the "concubine" remark. Gus sighed. For once, Lola laughed at one of his jokes, and for once, he wished she hadn't.

***

Bjorn couldn't, and didn't, expect all of his potential allies to come to him. But then, Mexico was just a few hours away with his supersonic private jet. As the jet approached the Mexican mountainside, he read through his notes again. Brian Yak had been hiding out in one of Professor Moshimo's old secret labs for nearly three years. Apparently, he had never even actually tried to attack Moshimo in all this time, but he'd sent several threatening letters where is assured the professor that he "was just being patient" and that "he was working on a fool-proof plan" to get his revenge. _Well Brian, _Bjorn thought,_ it's time to put your money where your mouth is_

"Who's there?" a shrilling voice shouted as Bjorn entered the cave where the lab was hidden.

Not surprisingly, Brian wasn't used to visitors.

"A friend" Bjorn tried.

"Probably not a friend of _mine_!" the voice from inside the cave sneered.

"That is possible.", Bjorn replied and held up both his hands to show that he wasn't armed. "But I might become one."

Brian Yak slowly walked towards his uninvited guest with an oversized gun.

Bjorn had difficulty getting over how ridiculous the sentinent yak looked. But then, it was exactly because of that kind of attitude that had made Brian dangerous in the first place, so he kept a straight face.

"Bjornson…" the yak muttered.

"Just call me Bjorn. I have come here to suggest an alliance."

He paused. Brian Yak made no sign to lower his gun, let alone put it down.

"Because I think we can help each to accomplish our goals"

"My goal is to get my revenge on Professor Moshimo!"

"Yes, I know. Now, I'm afraid I can't _promise_ that you will get the privilege of killing the professor…"

"Then I have no use for your help!"

"- But I _can _promise that you will get a _chance _to kill Moshimo, and that if you still refuse to cooperate, someone else will beat you to it."

"Who?", the yak demanded, still pointing his gun at Bjorn. Less than a second later, the gun was shot out of Brian's hand. Before the gun even had time to land on the ground, another beam pulverized it.

"**I WILL. I PROMISE BJORNSON, IF YOU COOPERATE, I NO KILL YOU TO KEEP YOU FROM GETTING TO MOSHIMO FIRST. BUT IF YOU GET IN LINE OF FIRE WHEN I KILL MOSHIMO, YOU DIE TOO."**

"Protoboy…"

"Up and going again, as you see. Stronger and more powerful than ever, as you will soon get to see." Bjorn announced smugly. "_And_ working for me."

"**FOR THE MOMENT." **Protoboy specified.

"Fine, I will cooperate" Brian growled. Then he turned to Protoboy. "And I accept that challenge! I will get to Moshimo first, and I will kill him before you get the chance!"

"**I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!" **

"Don't get uppity with me!", Brian snapped. "I've defeated you before, remember."

"**AYE, BY USING BIG GUNSHIP. AND EVEN THEN, I DESTROY SHIP IN PROCESS! YOU** **WITHOUT A CHANCE AGAINST ME IN DIRECT COMBAT!" **

Bjorn grinned. "Splendid! I can see you two will be getting along like a house on fire…maybe literally." He walked towards his aircraft.

"Now if you'll excuse me…while I'm in the neighborhood – well, at the same continent, anyway – I need to make another stop."

"What for?" Brian asked.

"There's a party, and I'm not invited.", Bjorn explained. "But I've never let _that _stop me."

* * *

_A/N: The characters Portia Gibbons and Gwen are taken from the Nickelodeon cartoon_ The Mighty B!. _I needed some extra supporting characters for this part of the story, and since both of these animated series are taking place in San Fransisco, I thought it would be convenient and, quite frankly, a little fun. This is not supposed to be a crossover fanfic, but I have no problems with adding a few guest appearances._

_To Tripel Death Core : Well, Wikipedia now says that Bjorn is Icelandic (I haven't heard it from any other source), but it used to say that he is Norwegian. And of course, Wikipedia is not very reliable anyway, so it's probably anyone's guess. _


	8. I Scream, You Scream

_I'm really sorry, about the delay - I thought this chapter__ would've been finished much sooner, but at least I'm on the right track again now. Hopefully, you haven't forgotten about this fic yet. _Please continue to review!

_NOTE: Although this isn't really a crossover fic, there'll be a lot of guest appearances from other cartoons in this particular chapter. I hope it's okay, because they all have a reason for being here._

***

Gus took a stroll around the party. He knew Lola wouldn't like it if he tried to keep Tommy's attention for too long on a night like this, and he had made her a promise to stay away from the snack table for at least an hour. Noticing that Ro seemed to be standing alone, he went over to have a chat with him.

"Whatcha doing, Ro?"

"Taking notes."

"At a party? Notes about what?"

"You see that boy over there?" He pointed at a black teenager with long hair.

"Rocky Rhodes? Yeah, he's in the band that gonna play here tonight. What about him?"

"Look at him, he is surrounded by admiring girls. I'm thinking, if I study him, perhaps I can learn how to get a girlfriend of my own."

"Sheesh, are you still going on about that? Why are you making such a fuss? You already have a girlfriend!"

"Do I? Who would that be?"

"Robyn, of course. I mean, she was _made_ for you – literally!"

Ro stared at his friend in utter diebelief.

"Gus, how can you even suggest something like that?" he snapped. "She's my sister!"

"Well technically, but only because you were created by the same guy!"

"Is not the principle the same when it comes to humans of flesh and blood? Tell me Gus, would a real boy date his own sister?"

"Not unless he was a real sicko, no."

"Then neither should I."

"Whatever dude, I was just trying to make things easier for ya. But here's some good advice: If you want girls…"

"Again, no offense, but you might not be the best to advice me on these matters."

"No listen, _this time_ I know what I'm talking about…"

"So you admit that _usually,_ you _don't_ know what you're talking about?"

"Shut up and listen! Rocky gets the chicks because he's in a band! If you're a musician or an athlete, the girls will love ya. So all you have to do is play an instrument – preferably guitar – or take up sports!"

Ro pondered at this for a moment. "Actualy, judging from the observations I've been doing lately, I think you might be right about this one,G-Man."

"Damn right!"

"Well even a clock that has stopped shows the right time twice a day." Robyn suddenly butted in, coming towards them.

Ro looked at her, confused. "What does that mean?"

Gus pouted and frowned at Robyn. Obviously, _he_ had understood what she meant.

"Never mind that", Robyn giggled. "But if you want to be introduced to a girl, I can help you. I'm part of Lola's clique, after all."

"What about her?" Ro suggested, pointing at a leggy blonde girl who was chatting with Lola and Portia.

Gus turned his head in the direction "Dee Dee? Forget it dude, she's way out of your league!"

"Don't listen to him, Robert. I know Dee Dee much better than Gus does, and she's a very nice girl. I can introduce you to her if you like."

"Thank you."

"But if she's starts talking about her brother, be careful what you say. There are some strange rumours going about him. Apparently, he has been studying the works of the Professor. Professor Moshimo, that is."

Robyn was about to lead Ro to the table where Lola and her clique was standing, when she spotted something that made her hesitate.

"Oh no…"

"What's the matter?" Ro asked her.

She just pointed.

"Oh…"

"Cool! Chick fight!"

For that comment, Gus was rewarded with two slaps that sent him straight across the room.

"I didn't think she would be here."

"Me neither. Who invited her? Lola's going to be mad!"

Lola _was _mad. "Who invited _Bambi_?" she sneered accusingly at the girls next to her. Dee Dee cowered behind a chair, and even the usually intrepid Gwen looked nervous. Only Portia seemed unfazed.

"_I _did. I asked you if I could invite an extra guest, and you said yes, remember?" she answered smugly. "Besides, I thought you'd just forgotten her. Bambi is one of the top cheerleaders, and you're always supposed to invite cheerleaders to parties."

In truth, it wasn't so much the fact that Bambi was present that infuriated Lola, but rather the fact that she was currently flirting openly with Tommy.

"I know what you're thinking, Lola" Gwen said cautiously. "But there's no reason to make a scene. Bambi always flirts with the guys who are taken. It's just a game she plays. And besides, Tommy is brushing her off, see?" she said, pointing.

"It's not like he's got a choice. He knows you're looking at him." Portia pointed out.

"I saw her flirt with Tommy last week at school, when you weren't present, and he brushed her off then, too." Dee Dee hurriedly added in his defence.

"She's flirted with him before?" Lola hissed.

Even before Lola said this, it had occurred to Dee Dee that she probably wasn't helping as much as she was trying to.

***

Gus wandered off, bored and hungry. Lola and Bambi didn't start fighting, although it was only because Dee Dee and Robyn held Lola back while Portia escorted Bambi to another table (while muttering something about "_enough already_...", and: "_had your fun_..."). He remembered the agreement he had with Lola, and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

The corridors of the Mbola household were as big and fancy as the rest of the household, and as Gus walked down them alone, he felt a bit uneasy. Then:

"Hi Gus! Whacha doing out here?"

It was a loud, lisping girl's voice, and the only thing on this particular girl's face that was bigger than her braces, was the glasses, which looked as if you could perform ice skating stunts on them.

Nonetheless, it was a voice Gus was happy to hear. It belonged to the only friend he had who wasn't either Tommy or someone he knew through Tommy. It belonged to the only kid at school who was always willing to keep him company at lunch hours nowadays.

And because of that, he told her the truth about what he was doing:

"Oh, hi Bessie, I'm going to the kitchen to help myself to some ice cream. Or rather, _a lot _of ice cream."

..and decided to be generous about it:

"Wanna come?"

"Do _I _wanna go to the kitchen to get some ice cream?" she shouted.

For a moment, the two teens looked at each and blinked.

"That means yes." Bessie added. "I'd love to!"

The Mbola kitchen was, of course, also ridiculously huge. However, someone had helpfully marked the freezer with the ice cream in it. There was a big note on it that simply said "ICE CREAM", and the handwriting looked like Lola's. Gus felt slightly insulted that Lola thought he couldn't find it on his own, but he swallowed his pride. He ran over to the freezer and selected picked a dozen differently flavoured boxes of Ben & Jerry's. That would have to do for a starter.

"Gus" Bessie said, standing right behind him. "Are you allowed to do this?"

"Absolutely! Lola gave me special permission."

"Wow! It's amazing that you and Lola are so tight! You don't seem like the kind of guy she'd usually go for."

Gus sighed. Unfortunately, she was right about that.

However, Lola had offered him free access to the ice cream. In return, he had to promise to stay away from the snack table downstairs for at least two hours. Bu the offer was still too good to pass up, especially considering that the whole freezer really was full of nothing but ice cream in all kinds of flavours, just like Lola had promised him. In fact, there was so much ice cream that he didn't mind sharing it, at least not with just one other person.

"Want some gelato?"

"Ooh, I'd love to! Did you know that gelato is Portia's favourite?"

"I'll eat up that first, then."

"Gus, there are, like half a dozen boxes of gelato here!"

"So what's your point?"

***

_The night is still young. The party isn't spoiled yet_, Lola thought to herself. Even so, she had decided to take a stroll around the house before she talked to Tommy. Right now, she was just too angry to be reasonable, and unless she got away from the party for a little while, she would take it all out on him.

The kitchen was nearby, and she suddenly had a craving for some ice cream. Of course, she knew who was currently in gorging himself on ice cream in the kitchen, but right now, Gus actually seemed like good company.

However, she never got that far before Gwen suddenly opened the door to the library straight ahead of her.

"Lola!" she said with a nod "That's convenient!"

"What do you mean?"

"Some guy wants to see you in the library. He's sitting in there right now. But the weird thing is, I can't remember seeing him at the party downstairs."

"What does he look like?" Lola asked, visibly confused.

"He's blond, and wears a suit, and he's got a really sleazy grin – kinda cute, though - and he talks with a weird accent…Scandinavian, I think…but his voice kind of sounds like…well…"

"…Like the baby from 'Family Guy'?",. Lola suggested, fearing the worst.

Gwen snapped her fingers and grinned. "Ah, so you know him! Well, anyway, he's waiting for you in there."

Lola frowned. "Yeah, I'll have a word with him."

Gwen smiled wickedly "You're quite the player, aren't you Lola?"

"What do you mean?"

"And with your boyfriend right downstairs and all! But that's okay. Even if you're like, totally being a hypocrite, you can count on my discretion." She explained with a smug you-owe-me look on her face.

Lola's face stiffened as she realized what Gwen was implying.

"Gwen, I'm NOT dating…that guy!!" Lola snapped, pointing at the door.. "For goodness sake, how can you even think such a thing?"

Gwen shrugged nonchalantly. "If you say so." The she tuned and prepared to leave. With a snicker, she added. "You're such a sucker for blond boys, aren't you?"

It took all of Lola's patience not to pounce at Gwen. She had to remind herself that right now, she had much bigger fish to fry.

Slowly, but determinedly, she opened the door to the library.

"Bjornson!" she sneered.

"Long time no see, my dear."

He was holding some sort of trigger device.

_To be continued…_


	9. The Incredible Lola

***

After finishing a box of tiramisu ice cream, the stuffed Gus leaned back and took a break. Lazily, and with mild fascination, he looked at Bessie nipping at the different flavours, carefully picking up another spoon every time she took a mouthful.

Exhausted from the sheer amount of ice cream he'd just eaten, he leaned his head against the wall. _Man, you'd think they could afford to pad the walls in this house a little better_, he thought to himself. _I can hear every world Lola's saying in there...hey, why would Lola be in there now, anyway_?

Gus listened closer. After a few minutes, he turned pale.

***

"I don't remember inviting you!" Lola snapped. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I don't know about any invitations, I just go where I please! As for why I am here…"

Teasingly, he juggled the trigger device he had been holding in his hand.

"What's that?" Lola demanded. "If you're going to activate Bjornbot and tell him to destroy my party..."

"Oh no, _I_'m not going to destroy your party, beautiful." He pointed the thing straight at her. "_You _are!"

"What are you…AAAGH!"

Lola suddenly wobbled, and was about to tip over to the side. She turned her head and discovered that her right arm and shoulder were abnormally large, and still growing. For a moment, she just stared at her arm in shock and disbelief. Then she shouted at Bjorn:

"_What are you doing to my arm, you psycho?!!"_

Bjorn removed his finger from the gadget's button, and Lola's arm stopped growing, although it was still as big as a standing lamp. Awkwardly, she put it down in order to keep it from tipping her over.

Bjorn juggled his trigger device teasingly. "You did this to yourself, at least originally. Remember Moshimo's energy additive? Could've been the next big thing in performance-enhancing drugs for wrestlers…"

Lola thought back. Professor Moshimo's power-boosting additive, which Gus had "borrowed", watered down, and then sold to a sleazy wrestling promoter. When he fed it to his wrestlers, however, it didn't only make them stronger – It also mutated them into savage giants, powerful enough to smash the batteries right out of Robotboy, leaving him defenceless. Tommy then decided to drink the additive himself, even if it would turn him into a giant as well, because that was the only way to save Robotboy. However, the potion slipped out of his hand, and Lola caught it. Knowing that they were running out of time, Lola drank it instead.

It had the intended effect.

Lola and Bjorn exchanged glances which suggested that they both knew this story.

"When I first heard that story, I was surprised to say the least", Bjorn commented. "I couldn't believe you would do something so foolhar…I mean, impulsive. Anyway, that's how I could pull off that trick with your arm."

Lola looked down. The swelling was already beginning to go down.

"That can't be it! Lola protested, "The effect of the energy additive wore off a long time ago!"

"How can you be so certain of that?"

"Because I got angry the very same evening, and then I transformed again!"

"And…?"

"And I've been angry many times after that, but I never transformed again. Like twenty minutes ago, for instance. And sorry to burst you bubble, but I was much angrier then than I am right now!"

Bjorn snickered. "Yes, your friend Ms. Wu kindly let me in on the details just before you came in that door. Tsk, tsk...Trouble in paradise already, eh? I can't believe you waited so long for that Turnbull kid to get over his immature cheerleader fetish and come to his senses. Was he really worth it?"

"He's twice the man than you will ever be!"

"And soon, so will you be", Bjorn said dryly, reminding her of the trigger device he still held in his hand. "And getting back to the point, you're only halfway right. Your transformation can no longer be triggered by mere anger, but the effect is there." He pointed the device at Lola's right arm, which had now gone back to its original size, and pushed the button again:

"AAGH!"

This time, he only pointed it at her for a few seconds, and the arm only grew half as much as the last time.

"This device sends high-frequent electromagnetic waves straight into your nervous system." He explained. "That's the only way to trigger the transformation. I had it tested it on a couple of retired wrestlers that you ran into a few years ago."

He moved closer towards Lola, who still had difficulty moving because of the weight of her own arm. Then he continued:

"Now then, imagine the scene you'd cause if you suddenly turned into a savage giantess at your own party."

"What do you want?" Lola groaned.

"Tell me where Robotboy is! I know he's no longer at Turnbull's household, so my best guess is that he's hiding somewhere in a human disguise – Probably at your school, so Turnbull can continue to keep an eye on him. And since your entire social circle appears to be at the party tonight, it stands to reason that he must be here as well."

Lola tried her best to keep a poker face. So far, all of Bjorn's guesses had been correct, but she couldn't let it show.

"Do you really think we'd hide Robotboy in plain sight?", Lola retorted calmly.

"I've been talking to Kamikazi, so I know that you're hiding _Robotgirl_ in plain sight!"

Lola's pokerface burst.

"Don't worry my pretty, I'm not after your "sister". I'm not even looking for a fight with Robotboy, _not yet. _I just want the upper hand. For the moment, I just want to know - Which one of the kids at this party is Robotboy?"

Lola scowled, but then she said calmly: "I'm sorry Bjorn, but even if Robotboy was here at the party – and I'm not saying he is – I wouldn't tell you where and who he is."

Bjorn smiled uneasily. "I expected you to say something like that, my dear. So here's the deal: In half an hour, I will come down to the party, and then I will expect you to tell me the location and alias of Robotboy's. If you still refuse…well…"embarrassing" will not even _begin_ to describe the experience of turning into a hulking beast at your own party, right in front of all your friends."

"And what if I just tell them that I'm feeling sick and am retiring from my own party?" Lola tried. "That way, there'll be nobody around to see me turning into a hulking beast."

"Then I will take your first suggestion." Bjorn answered, and picked a cell phone out of his pocket. "One little push on just the right button, and I will have Bjornbot come over here to destroy your party, in which case, of course, Robotboy will be forced to reveal himself anyway. But that is merely my backup plan, and I'd prefer not to be so crude."

The two teens exchanged scolding glances. Then Bjorn smiled in his usual, creepy way and concluded:

"You have half an hour."

***

Slowly, Gus moved away from his convenient position by the wall, and looked awkwardly at Bessie. He had an idea - An idea that probably sounded better after you had stuffed yourself with a few pounds of gelato. An idea that fit Gus' rather frail idea of chivalry. He was going to help Lola, and he knew how.

"Say, Bessie" he began in a low, conspiratorial voice. "Have you ever heard of the Ebony Giantess?"

"No, I haven't!" the bespectacled girl scout said in the upset and excited voice of someone who was worried that they had missed out on something important.

"You haven't?" Gus retorted, trying his best to sound as if he was genuinely surprised about this. "Really? Robotboy has been chasing her for months! Then I guess you haven't heard about the latest rumor either…"

***

Lola also had an idea. She went into the wardrobe where Charles Kadinga was keeping his extra outfits. Kadinga was a true believer in the motto, "Be Prepared.", and whenever it was practically possible, he always carried around, not only a large arsenal of weaponry, but also a variety of combat outfits. This included an extra strong tarpaulin suit made to stand considerable strains. After having smuggled it out of the wardrobe, Lola studied the enormous piece of clothing for a while, wondering how she could possibly hide this. She studied her own wardrobe for a while, then sighed.

Well, it _was_ kind of nippy tonight…

Lola jumped out of a window, then walked back in through the front door, in what she hoped was an inconspicuous manner. She was relieved to see Dee Dee coming towards her; Dee Dee was less likely to ask her suspicious questions. And right now, the blonde seemed to be too enthusiastic about something else to notice that Lola was wearing her winter coat.

"Lola, did you hear the news?"

"What news?" Lola asked, worried.

"The Ebony Giantess is in this neighborhood! Robotboy is out looking for her! Maybe we'll get to see a real live superhero fight tonight. Everybody's talking about it!"

Now Lola was _really _confused.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Party Crashers

Robot…Robert, just the person I wanted to see!" Lola exclaimed. She grabbed Ro by the collar and dragged him into a corner. "Listen, we need to talk urgently!"

"I agree, we do need to talk." , the camouflaged robot replied. "Suddenly everyone at the party are talking about this supervillain that I'm supposed to be after. The Ebony Giantess? I've never even heard of someone named the Ebony Giantess! Do you know who it is?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." Lola looked over her shoulder before she continued in a low voice: "I think it's me."

"Say what?"

"Listen, we have to make this short. Here's the situation…"

Bjorn was a man (or boy) of his word. Roughly half an hour later, he came walking down the stairs, and discreetly approached his intended blackmail victim. He stopped for a moment, and examined Lola's clothes, probably realizing that there was something suspicious about them, but then moved in closer anyway.

"Now then, Miss Lola" he began before he paused momentarily. "Have you made your decision?"

Lola nodded. "But can we talk more discreetly?"

Bjorn grinned "Not _too_ discreetly", he replied waving the trigger device in his hand. "But if you want to go and, say, sit in the corner over there, I have no problem with that."

"Fine."

As they went over to a badly lit corner at the other end of the living room, Lola looked over her shoulders and prayed that Gwen wasn't looking. Thankfully, she wasn't, and the nearby kids' attentions were drawn Bessie Higgenbottom doing her trademark party trick: creating instant macramé figures.

"Now then...who is Robotboy?"

Lola hesitated.

"Robotboy is really…."

"Yes?"

"He is really…"

"Yes?"

"He is really going to kick your ass!"

Bjorn looked surprised, but only for a fraction of a section. Then he smiled bemusedly.

"So you want to do this the hard way…"

"_Yes, we will!!"_

Bjorn recognized the last voice, and he saw where it was coming from. Hurriedly, he took out the trigger device, but the hooded figure that was coming towards him, leapt at him so fast that he lost the device. For a moment, it looked as if the figure had completely overpowered Bjorn, but after a few seconds the teen villain somehow managed to wriggle himself far enough out to reach for the trigger device that was lying on the floor in front of him. However, Lola jumped forward and got hold of the device at the exact same moment. For a few tense and very awkward moments, the two teens were involved in a tug-of-war for the device. Then Bjorn reached the button with his left thumb…and pushed.

Lola screamed. Her voice sounded unnatural and eerie, and the other party guests didn't recognize it, which was probably a good thing. It later occurred to Bjorn that because Lola was holding the trigger device at the time when he pushed the button, the effect came much faster. The electromagnetic waves didn't go thorough the air, but rather straight into Lola's nervous system. Because of this, the transformation only took a few seconds, and while it both looked and sounded as if this was quite painful for her, it meant that the other guests didn't gather around the growing figure fast enough to see who she was and how she had gotten there.

What they did get to see was a massive and vaguely feminine-looking figure, dressed in a large, black tarpaulin combat suit that looked as if it was being stretched to its limits. For a moment, the large figure just lay there, covering its head. Then it reared its head and got up with a roar that was being filtered through a hooded mask. Bessie Higgenbottom stopped long enough to point out that it looked as if the mask had been made out of a large garbage bag, but this detail didn't interest anybody else at the moment. Most of the teens were running and screaming in terror, although many of them were frantically waving their cell phones, trying to make video recordings of the creature as they ran away from it. In the uproar, nobody noticed a series of blasting and clicking noises. Not at first. And when they did…

"_It's Robotboy!"_

"_Awesome!"_

"_Ohmygosh, I can't believe I'm standing just ten feet away from him!"_

"_Where did he come from?"_

"_Where did __**she **__come from, for that matter?"_

"_Looks like Messie was right after all."_

"_Shouldn't we move away?"_

"_Where's the zoom on this thing? I've got to record this!"_

Robotboy was getting used to public attention, but it was still a major nuisance every time people were trying to get too close. Distracted, he allowed himself to be punched in the face by the roaring tarpaulin-clad figure. The crowed booed and hissed, as if this was all just for show. But then again, that's what it was, really.

Robotboy got back up, wondering if Lola knew her own strength right now. Probably not. He set his phasers on low, and fired them right at her. She barely moved, which in itself was pretty impressive. He quickly turned his phasers up, and fired at her again. This time, the power from the beams caused her to be flung backwards, straight out of a window and into the garden. He didn't know if it really was because of the phasers, or if Lola had simply pretended to be hit so hard as an excuse to take this staged fight out of the house, but it didn't matter. The important thing is that the fight _was_ being taken out of the house and, hopefully before too long, out of the partygoers' sight.

The crowd cheered as Robotboy flew out of the smashed window, and naturally they followed him - but at least only from a certain distance. Out in the garden, "the Ebony Giantess" was waiting for him. She roared menacingly, and punched him again as soon as he got close enough. Again, Robotboy wondered if Lola knew her own strength. Robotboy flung backwards turned around, grabbed the giantess by the waist, and flew away. Lola kept roaring and pounding at him, but this time Robotboy figured that it was obviously just for show, since he barely felt it. Below them, the crowd at the Mbola estate's garden were cheering and calling.

Then the robot and the giantess disappeared out of sight, into the darkness of a cloudy San Francisco night. It took a few minutes before most of the guests figured out that the fight was over, or that at least they wouldn't get to see the end of it. People began going back inside, chatting eagerly about the event they had just witnessed and checking their cameras.

In the uproar, nobody noticed a rather confused Tommy, who had been looking for Lola and came back downstairs a little later then the rest. The only thing he noticed at first was that Robotboy had superactivated, for some reason. He was about to ask someone what exactly was going on when Robyn took him aside, and told him to stay away from the other guests for a while. Tommy reluctantly obeyed, even when Robyn momentarily left him alone in a corridor for a few minutes. When she came back, she dragged him down to the mansion's gym in the basement.

"Robyn, what is this all about?"

"You won't believe me if I tell you." Robyn replied as she opened the door to the gym. "See for yourself."

Tommy stepped inside and gasped as he saw Lola, five meters tall and with exaggerated musculature, covered in oversized carpets.

"Hi, Tommy. Does this seem familiar?"

It only took quite a few minutes to explain Tommy everything, especially since Gus and Ro (especially Gus) kept interrupting her to add their own pieces of information.

"I think the effect is beginning to wear off." Lola added casually after they had finished explaining.

"Ah, excuse us then, boys..." Robyn said to Tommy, Gus and Ro, pointing at the door.

They took the hint, and left the gym to let Lola get dressed in her normal-sized clothes. Gus and Ro went downstairs to the party while Tommy stayed behind and waited.

"So everything worked out, then?" Tommy asked Lola as she came back out, adjusting her dress.

Lola's eyes rolled. "Yeah, except that Bjorn is up to something, and he'll probably be back. And except that I can still turn into a monster, at least if Bjorn makes another trigger device. And except that somehow I have to explain to my dad and Vivian what happened here tonight. And except that Gwen talked to Bjorn, so now she things I'm cheating on you – With Bjorn!"

"Ladies prefer Blonds", Tommy said with a snicker.

"You know, I might have found that just a little bit funny if Gwen hadn't already made a joke like that." Lola growled.

"Sorry."

Tommy looked awkwardly at his girlfriend.

"We'll find a way", he continued. "We've been in bigger trouble than this."

"I guess."

"I can't believe all this happened behind my back." Tommy continued conversationally. "The rest of you guys did everything this time. Even Gus helped out. I feel a bit useless right now."

Lola smiled at him. "Actually, you can still do something useful for me."

"What?"

She moved in closer to Tommy while she began attaching lipstick. "You can give me an alibi", she said seductively.

"Hi everyone!" Gus said, a little louder than strictly necessary as he came down the stairs and back into the living room. "Did I miss something?"

The other guests, who were all still discussing the fight, probably wouldn't even have noticed Gus if he hadn't been talking so loudly. Some of them turned around and looked at the red-haired boy. Then they laughed.

"Oh _please_!", Portia snorted. "Don't tell me you were hiding during the fight so that we would think _you_'re Robotboy? I wasn't born yesterday. That trick is getting old _so _fast!"

"Yeah!" Gwen seconded. "If I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone trying to pull _that _one off ..."

At the moment, none of the guests noticed "Robert Jones" standing right behind Gus. And soon, the attention of the entire party was drawn to Tommy and Lola as they came back inside as well. Especially because Tommy's blushing face was covered in lipstick.

"You missed out on all the fun!" Bessie exclaimed enthusiastically.

"From the looks of them, I don't think they mind." Dee Dee commented. "Looks like someone just patched things up!"

As soon as the couple had gotten some more privacy, they went over to Gus:

"I've got to give you credit, G-Man" Tommy said impressed "That was pretty clever, making up a story so that no-one would be surprised when Ro suddenly got into a fight in the middle of the party!"

"Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. Bessie helped me by running around everywhere and telling people that the Ebony Giantess is real and that Robotboy was looking for her."

Tommy looked slightly suspicious at his friend. "You didn't actually tell her..."

"Nah, she knows nuthin'. I just pretended that it was all real. So she acted in good faith."

Lola smiled. "I think I know how I can thank the both of you", she said to Gus.

Being transformed by the energy additive was a strange feeling. Lola had been aware of her true self all the time, but for a few minutes, she had been under the influence of an adrenaline rush that she couldn't quite control. It was hard to think straight, but at least she managed to think far enough ahead to fall back and out of the large living room_ window_ when Robotboy fired at her, since the crushed window would be easier to replace than a large hole in the wall would be to fix.

Lola's father wasn't too upset about the damage to the living room and oddly enough, he had accepted the explanation given by all the guests without asking too many follow-up questions. This worried Lola. Ever since his heart-to-heart conversation with Moshimo, the ambassador had become more and more suspicious. Especially, of course, whenever Ro was involved. She had the unpleasant feeling that her father was merely postponing an inevitable confrontation. But staying on the subject for too long seemed like a bad idea, so she was relieved when her father changed the subject:

"On a different note, did you really buy _fifty boxes_ of taffy from the Honeybee girl scouts?**[*****]**

"Uh, yeah. It's for a good cause."

The ambassador shrugged. "What are we supposed to do with that much candy?"

"Not to worry, dad. I called Gus. He'll be over any minute now."

* * *

_**[**__*__**]**__A Mighty B reference: Bessie Higgenbottom and her girl scout troop usually raises money by selling taffy._

NEXT: Let's just Lola is more right than she'd like to be. She might still be in trouble, and Bjorn is still up to something.

**Please review! **


	11. Don't Call Me Yolanda

At the Bjornson family's private ski slope at Ustaoset, Norway, Bjorn was trying to enjoy himself. But it wasn't easy when he had to be the host of three professional killjoys like Kamikazi, Brian and Protoboy. Oh well, it was time for business, anyway. He slipped down to his oversized cabin, got off his ski gear, and got back inside. The first person he ran into was Constantine, who was sitting on a couch in the main living room, drinking eggnog against the hangover he was still suffering from.

"Good morning, Constantine. How is life treating you on this fair midday morning?"

The hunchbacked henchman moaned in response.

"That bad, huh? Well, how is you boss?"

"Not much better, sir. He is bored, and keeps complaining about the cold."

"Cold? This isn't cold! It's about zero degrees Celsius, and that's just about right. But if the climate is a problem, he needn't worry. We will soon relocate to my father's holiday home in Fredonia."

The tiny central European kingdom of Fredonia got 90 % of its income from secret bank accounts and Bjorn's father, ship-owner Carl Fredrik Bjornson, was one of the Royal Fredonian Bank's most important clients. Bjorn had good connections with the Fredonian royal family. Particularly one of its members…

He went over to a framed picture of a beautiful girl with a condescending look on her face: "Soon, Justine my dear, soon…" he whispered.

Then he left Constantine alone with his hangover, and went down to the basement, where Dr. Kamikazi was fast-forwarding through some spy recordings..

"Anything interesting?"

"Nothing yet." Kamikazi replied without looking away from the screen. "Robotboy is still denied access to the Mbola household, which is the only place you managed to put a few spy cameras."

"A few spy cameras are better than no spy cameras.", Bjorn commented and sighed. "You've really lost it, Kamikazi. There was a time when your tapping devices were covering all of San Francisco."

"I told you, Moshimo had a detector installed in Robotboy!", Kamikazi snapped. "He tracked down every camera I had planted, little by little."

Didn't you even have the equipment for tapping into young Turnbull's very dreams? I've heard that somewhere?"

Kamikazi's mood lightened slightly as he saw an opportunity to brag about past glories. "Ah yes, that was not just a matter of spy technology, actually. It was made possible because I spiked Turnbull's juice carton with a colony of intelligent bacteria that entered his head and allowed me to pick up transmissions from his subconscious."

"Clever, very clever. But at the risk of sounding like a clichéd sporting villain, I think we'll steer clear of such methods this time." Bjorn commented. And because he just couldn't help himself, he added: "Besides, if you looked into young Turnbull's dreams nowadays, you'd only be embarrassed. They certainly wouldn't be about _you_, anyway."

"I can assure you I have no interest in studying a hormonal teenager's nocturnal fantasies." Kamikazi remarked snidely.

"Speaking of hormones, and speaking of your accomplishments in chemistry.." Bjorn began. "Is it true that you invented a…love potion?"

Kamikazi, who was standing with his back to Bjorn at the moment, paused. Then he turned around and said with his best poker face.

"That's just a rumor, Bjornson, I never made such a thing. It's not like I'd ever need it, anyway."

"If you say so", Bjorn replied, and left it at that. But he knew it wasn't true. Last night, after drinking a sufficient amount of aquavit shots, Constantine had told him about Kamikazi's Love Potion X, and how the doctor had had used it and in many cases, abused it. Fiercely loyal though he might be, even Constantine held his master in contempt for creating and using this particular potion. And as he kept on pouring the henchman more aquavit, Bjorn had found out still more about the good doctor's manipulation of the art of love. It was very interesting. Successively, Bjorn had added one more name to his list of useful, possible allies:

SUSANNA KLASHNIKOV

Meanwhile, Kamikazi's Eyes were again fixed on the screen.

"Bjornson, I think you might want to see this.", he pointed out.

***

The atmosphere was uneasy at the Mbola household this afternoon. Lola could tell that her dad and Vivian had something they wanted to tell her:

"I've had experts looking at the videos from the surveillance cameras", he began, "And they've studied the physiology and the voice pattern of this so-called "Ebony Giantess". I've also had a detective going around and chatting with several of your party guest – As discreetly as possible, of course."

He paused. For the moment, Lola found it best not to say anything.

"Now I can't prove anything", Mr. Mbola continued. "And less than two months ago, I wouldn't have believed it, even if it was proven to me." He lowered his brows and looked directly at Lola. "But all the evidence is pointing in one direction…"

Another moment of uneasy silence.

"Lola" the ambassador finally continued. "Is there something important you haven't told me?"

Lola still hesitated.

"Lola", he repeated. "You'll only make it worse be postponing it."

***

This conversation didn't come as that much of a surprise to Lola. What happened next day, when she went over to Tommy's house, surprised her much more.

"Lola, is there someone in your family named Yolanda Simphiwe Mbola?"

To be greeted with such a question wasn't as surprising as the question itself. Lola hesitated for several seconds.

"Uh…well, yes."

"Great, who is it?"

"Uh…it's…it's me, actually. I haven't told any of you guys before, but that's my full name."

Lola looked in the direction of Gus, who way lying in Tommy's beanbag. Much to her surprise, he didn't seem to react to this piece of information at all.

"But where did you hear about that name?", she continued.

"It's on this envelope", Tommy explained, handing her said envelope. She studied it.

"That's my name, all right. But why is does it have your address on it?"

Tommy shrugged. "Beats me. It was sent to our house, for some reason"

Lola studied the envelope further, and found that it had no return address. She opened it. Inside was a blank sheet of paper. That was all.

"Some sort of prank", she stated. "But who would do this, and for what reason?"

She looked at Tommy. "Where is the nearest post office?", she asked. She wanted to get to the bottom of this, so she might as well start there.

***

"Tommy, what's wrong with Gus?", she asked him on the way.

"Why do you think anything's wrong with him?"

"He didn't laugh when he heard my full name. Not even a snicker."

"So? I didn't laugh either."

"Yeah, but that's just because you're my boyfriend. You're afraid to laugh at my name."

"I wouldn't laugh at it anyway."

"Oh, really. Admit that you think "Simphiwe" is a little funny, at least"

"It's a nice name."

"Simphiwe, Simphiwe, Simphiwe…"

Tommy couldn't help but snicker a little.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Lola said with satisfaction, before she got serious again.

"By the way…..I…I've told my dad the truth about what happened at the party."

Tommy halted. "Voluntarily?"

"Sort of. You see, he was suspecting this all along, so he convinced me to confess before it had gone too far."

"Wow, how is he taking this?"

"He wants to talk with the professor ASAP. I guess he thinks the professor might know how to cure my condition for good, since it was one of his potions who did this to me."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Well, since Bjorn was after Ro that night, Dad says that Ro is still banned from our house indefinitely. I'm sorry."

"That's all he said?" Tommy pressed. He hadn't forgotten about Mr. Mbola's threat to send Lola to a boarding school.

"That was all. He was very calm about it, actually. I guess that after all that's happened for the last couple of months, he's starting to get jaded."

Tommy stopped. "By the way, I just remembered…we passed the post office a minute ago."

Unfortunately, nobody at the Turnbulls' local post office had any clue as to why a fake letter addressed to Yolanda Simphiwe Mbola had been sent to the Turnbull household. But as Lola discussed the matter with a clerk, Tommy noticed a woman peeking out form the mail sorting room. It was a black woman, probably in her late thirties, with weary-looking eyes and a bent posture.

"What did you say your name was, miss? Yolanda Mbola?"

Her accent reminded Tommy of Mr. Mbola's. Then again, maybe all African accents sounded alike to him.

"Yes, that's me." Lola answered the woman hesitatingly. But everyone…calls…me…"

Lola interrupted herself as she noticed that the woman was staring at her in a very suspicious matter. Then suddenly, it was as if a fire was suddenly lit in the post sorting woman's weary eyes:

"It is you! IT IS YOU!!" she shouted and leaped right at Lola "You're her daughter! I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for ten years!" She forced Lola to the floor and tried to grab her by the throat.

"She took my daughter from me, so now I'm taking hers! It's only fair!" she continued manically. The woman was rather scrawny, and Lola, with her fighting experience, would ordinarily have no trouble overpowering her. However, she was so taken out by this unexpected situation she had allowed her attacker to get a good grip, and she was thankful when Tommy grabbed the woman by her shoulders and tried to force her back on her feet. He was soon assisted by a couple of security guards. As they dragged her away, she was struggling wildly and shaking her fists at Lola.

"You'll get yours yet!!" she shouted as they handcuffed her. "_Justice will catch up with you one day, demon-spawn!_"

Sweating, the head clerk desperately tried to assure Tommy and Lola that he had no idea what this was about, and that this woman would never work at the postal services again. They didn't seem to be listening. Lola was sitting on a bench with her head buried in her hands, while the bewildered Tommy was wondering if she should try and ask Lola what this was all about. He wisely decided against it. Instead, he just sat down and put an arm carefully around her shoulder. At least she didn't brush him off.

***

Bjorn concluded that it didn't matter to him or his plans if the ambassador knew about Miss Lola's mutation. If it changed anything, it'd only be for the best: Maybe Moshimo _would_ find a cure, in which case her super-strenght could not be unlocked as a potential weapon to be used against him and his allies. Not that he didn't have enough muscle to fight back such a threat. He had Protoboy, and he still had his Bjornbots. Speaking of which…

The Bjornson family's ski cabin had everything, including an exercise room fit for super-powered robots. Inside, Bjornbot Prime was currently hammering away on a titanium-coated panel, and was well on his way oto reduce it to a ball of scrap metal.

Bjorn clapped. "That'll be enough for today, brother. Those panels are expensive, and you're going through them really fast."

Bjorn called this one Bjornbot Prime because he had a few more enhancements than the other Bjornbots. Prime had several backup energy sources, more stamina and more raw strenght. . He came with a fake skin to wear in public And he could talk. Of course, all Bjornbots could talk, but they were originally programmed to say only two words: "Bjorn!" and "Ja!". However, that eventually got a bit boring, especially when Bjorn sometimes spent hours in the company of nothing but a Bjornbot. So Bjornbot Prime was programmed with a thousand word vocabulary and some simple grammar. Bjorn deliberately kept it simple; he preferred a conversation partner who didn't challenge his intellectual superiority.

"Borrred" Bjornbot Prime growled.

"It seems to be the common sentiment", Bjorn responded. "But like I've already told our allies, we'll be relocating in a couple of days."

"And when we fight?"

"Patience, brother. We'll get there eventually."

"I not be sidelined by Protoboy!"

"Again, be patient. We need Protoboy, and it's much safer to have him on our side than to let him be on a side all of his own."

"But he not get bride. She is mine!"

"Yes brother, I promise you that you'll get your bride."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you're not too confused after this chapter - All will be revealed in time.  
**

**This time, special thanks goes to InvaderLuver, whose encouragement helped me getting off my ass and finish writing this chapter. Just for you, I decided to introduce a Bjornbot plot sooner than I had been planning to. Though I can't promise to focus on Bjornbot right ****away**_ - _**There are many players, and Bjorn is playing dirty with all of'em!**


	12. Keeping It In The Family

Tommy wanted to try and make a subtle attempt at asking Lola why that woman at the post office had attacked her. However, he decided against it the very next day, when he was standing outside Lola's house. As he was about to ring the bell, he heard a noise of voices from upstairs, as if Lola's father was having a very heated discussion with his wife:

"_Deported?" _

"_Yes, Mrs. Makuba doesn't have a green card, so I could set things in motion…"_

"_Kingsley, you can't abuse your position like that! That poor woman…"_

"_That poor woman tried to strangle my daughter! And the things she could tell the public if given the chance –" _

"_Then use your position to have her transferred to another part of the country. Get her a job…"_

"_Don't be ridiculous Vivian, she won't accept a job offer from __me__ of all people! In any case, that won't be enough. I want her as far away as possible…"_

At this point, Tommy overcame his eavesdropping urges and rang the bell. The discussion stopped inside the house, he could hear low murmur, and finally, Lola went downstairs and opened the door.

"Lola…" he began, with concern in his voice.

I'm all right", she replied, smiling faintly. "But dad is pretty upset." She added, and gave Tommy a look that said: _As if you couldn't hear…_ She opened the door wider, and signalled him to come inside.

Tommy entered the hall and left his jacket on a hanger, only to have it immediately picked up and placed in the wardrobe by the butler.

"He thinks I should stay inside for a few days just I case there's any gossip." Lola continued. "Wanna catch a movie?"

Tommy sighed, and smiled uneasy. "One of these days, I'd like to take you to a dinner and a movie _outside_ your house."

* * *

"Only two more pieces, and my great plan is ready to be set in motion, brother", Bjorn announced to his cybernetic double as they walked down the sunny boulevards of Cannes, France.

"Why we need her?" Bjornbot Prime asked.

"She's the best mercenary in the business." Bjorn explained. "But just between us, that's not the real reason why I want her to join my ranks. If what Constantine told me is true, she could become very useful later on. In the meantime…well, she iis/i easy on the eyes."

"Justine no like."

"Justine won't have to deal with her. Ah, here we are." Bjorn pointed at a place called Hotel Majestic. They got inside, where a rather surly-looking Susanna Klashnikov was waiting for them in her suite

The platinum blonde, Russian woman crossed her infamously long (and reputedly deadly) legs nonchalantly. "Please make this fast, Mr. Bjornson." she said, not getting up. "This is the Riviera, and I've already lost several valuable sunbathing minutes waiting for your appointment."

"I see your point, my dear, it is a lovely day outside. Now before I say what it is I want to hire you for, ma'am, I just want to make something clear: You were once hired by one Akira Kamikazi to catch a super-powered robot, am I correct?"

The mercenary looked uneasy, if only for a few seconds.

"That much is true. I cannot tell you much about it, though…"

"Confidentiality, eh?"

"Usually, that would be it. But in the case of Kamikazi, I simply do not know what happened. All I know is that the doctor explained the mission to me over a cup of tea. Then I took a boat to San Francisco, and by the time I got there, things were getting blurry…"

She paused.

"I came to my senses a week later. Apparently, the robot I was sent to apprehend gave me a concussion. The doctor said that I had gotten a case of temporary amnesia, and that my mission failed."

"And you just accepted that explanation?"

"The doctor paid me the full fee, even though the mission failed. And you know what they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth…"

Bjorn nodded slowly. Well, he knew all he needed for the moment. He tried to avoid smiling, even though he couldn't stop thinking about how much he was going to enjoy this later on.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to hire you for a mission that involves catching the very same robot."

Kalashnikov looked surprised.

"Mind you, this time it won't be your job alone to catch the robot, it's a bit more complicated than that. But still…this is your chance for a comeuppance."

The mercenary flaunted her hair casually.

"I've never been very concerned about comeuppances. But for the fee you suggested…well, when do you want me to begin?"

Bjorn handed her a train ticket. "Meet me in Ville de Fredoniè in two days. In the mean time, enjoy your stay at the Riviera, and send all the bills to the Bjornson estate."

Susanna nodded, but didn't say thanks. As an elite mercenary, she never expected any less than for her clients to cover her every expense, no matter how luxurious and redundant. As she hurried down to the beach, Bjorn walked slowly down the lobby, thinking: _You might be concerned about comeuppances, beautiful, when you hear what I have to tell you_.

"Kamikazi just call." Bjornbot Prime announced as Bjorn entered the lobby. "He say, Protoboy just run off!"

"I was sort of expecting that." Bjorn commented calmly. "Well, there's no reason to be alermed just yet. We have an understanding, and I think I know where he's off to…"

* * *

It turned out that Gus _had_ been right – something he didn't fail to remind his friend of repeatedly over the next few days: Participating in sports really helped improving Ro's social life.

Gus had suggested football, and Ro had agreed until he understood what Gus meant by "football". He had decided to try out for soccer, a game which he was already familiar with. This lead to some confusion between him and Gus, because it turned out that Ro's language chip was programmed with the international definition of "football", rather than the American one. Ro argued that in American football, it would be too easy to abuse his super-strenght (Gus' response to this was "So?"). In soccer, he had to restrain his powers more, he explained, so that his super-speed would not become too obvious (again, Gus failed to see what the problem was). He didn't want his powers to give him an unfair advantage (Gus was still confused).

Ro was not one hundred percent certain that he didn't use his powers during the games – Especially when he got worked up and kicked the ball extra hard towards the goal. But as long as he didn't kick the ball hard enough to make the net burst, let alone put the ball into orbit, he figured he was safe.

And he was good at it. After a tryout where he scored two goals in one round, Ro was appointed striker. He then convinced the coach to let Gus try out for goalie. Gus held this position as well as he used to on Dwight Turnbull's team in grade school, and was rejected after the first game. Ro felt guilty towards Gus, who had already been sidelined by his friends on several occasions. But what could he do? It was Gus' idea, and it had worked. He had several friends, and he could swear that some of the girls who came to see the games were making eyes at him.

Not that any of them were here today. Then again, it was just practice today, and the benches were mostly empty. But on one of the top rows, he noticed that Gus was sitting, chatting with that girl he sometimes hung out with. Well, mostly just _listening _to her, really. Conversations with Bessie Higgenbottom tended to be a bit one-sided. In any case, he was relieved to be reminded that Gus had other friends to keep him company. It was his break, and Ro considered going up to them when his sensors suddenly picked up a signal. It was a signal he recognized, but at first, he couldn't believe it was true, not even when he heard a voice from right behind him:

"**YOU PATHETIC."**

Ro turned around slowly, and looked at a figure in a dressed in a tight overcoat. He had a cap on his head and his face was covered in bandages. The only thing that stuck out between the bandages was a pair of glowing eyes.

"Protoboy?" Ro asked, still hesitant to believe this could be true. "How can you still alive…I mean, in existence?

"**I MAKE**** BACKUP COPIES OF OWN BODY. BUT DID NOT HAVE TIME TO REACTIVATE BACKUP BEFORE I FALL INTO MOLTEN METAL. WAS NOT ACTIVATED UNTIL RECENTLY, BY BJORN BJORNSON. HE SHOW ME VIDEO RECORDING OF MISSING MEMORY FROM TITANIUM FACTORY. I KNOW ALL NOW. " **

"Bjornson…" Ro muttered, trying to absorb all this information. In the meantime, he decided to try and change the subject: "So why am I pathetic?"

"**BECAUSE YOU POSE AS HUMAN."**

"I've always strived to become a real boy."

"**AND THAT IS PATHETIC. WHY YOU STRIVE TO BECOME AN INFERIOR BEING WHEN YOU ALREADY A SUPERIOR**** ONE?" **

"Humans aren't inferior!" Ro snapped

"**THAT THEY ARE. THEY ARE VULNERABLE AND MORTAL."** He paused momentarily. **"LITTLE BROTHER"**, he continued in a more solemn voice, **LINES ARE DRAWN, AND YOU MUST CHOOSE. WILL YOU RECLAIM SUPERIORITY, OR WILL YOU CONTINUE DEGRADING YOURSELF? **

"If degrading myself means being human, then I've already made my choice."

"**VERY WELL."**

"Now what? We fight?"

"**NO. THIS AN ULTIMATU****M. BUT NEXT TIME, WE FIGHT. I CRUSH YOU, AND CLAIM MY BRIDE."**

"What bride?"

Without answering, Protoboy turned around, and walked away.

* * *

On a plateau in the middle of the rainforest of Cassaia in southwestern Africa, there's a massive concrete building. It's not very easy to get to and from, so when a young individual who clearly didn't belong there suddenly showed up in the mess hall one day, you'd think it would raise more than a few eyebrows. However, most of the inmates knew better than to ask what a white, underage boy in a suit was doing in an African women's prison. If he was able to get in here at all, he probably was someone you didn't want to mess with. And certainly nobody wanted to mess with the inmate he was moving towards – A tall, bespectacled woman in her late thirties with short hair. Everyone knew she was to be left alone during mealtimes. Everyone except for the boy moving towards her, it would seem.

"Y. Miriam Adhabu?"

The woman he referred to barely looked up, as if she didn't want to acknowledge his presence. He sat down.

"I don't know much about the cuisine of Cassaian prisons," he began casually, studying her meal, "But I find it hard to believe that it's very common to have shrimp cocktail and white wine for lunch around here."

"It's a fringe benefit", she said indifferently. "It helps to have contacts. But I do not suppose you came here to discuss menus with me, white child?"

"My name is…actually, come to think of it, just call me whatever you like for the moment. And no, I'm here to ask for your help."

"My help is difficult to get, white child."

"Don't you worry about that, Madame. An escape can be arranged easily."

"Very well, but that's not what I'm talking about. You have to offer me more than just a convenient escape if you want my aid, white child."

"I can also get you a fake passport to America."

"Still not enough."

"And I can have you reunited with your daughter."

In response to this, the woman looked him straight in the eyes for the first time.

"Ah, white child, maybe we can do business after all."


	13. The Six Million Euro Whatever

Captain Villefontaine, duty officer of the Royal Fredonian Bank, had just gotten started on his evening round when he heard someone talking in the dimly lit office at the bottom of the corridor to the right.

_"Ook, ook!"_

_"Ich stimme zu, Ludwig, wir müssen unseren kleinen Freund so schnell wie möglich informieren über diese..."_

Villefontaine, who knew how attractive this bank was to international crminals, didn't take any chances. He pulled out the gun and kicked the door.

Who's there!" he demanded, pointing his gun at a balding, middle-aged man with thick, horn-rimmed glasses. There was nothing particularly remarkable about _him_, but his entourage appeared to be an orangutan in a combat suit. The duty officer could not help but stare.

The middle-aged man turned around slowly. "Mein name is Klaus von Afonzügel", he replied. "And not only do I have an account in this bank, but I also rent an office. _This_ office. So I have every right to be here."

"_You_'re Klaus von Afoncügel?"

"Ja. Is there a problem?"

"I guess not. It's just that…you look shorter on pictures."

"Ja, I get that a lot."

"What about that monkey? Do you have a permission to – ACKK!"

"First of all", the German man said stoically as his gorilla lifted up the duty officer by his neck, "I do not need any special kind of permission to take Ludwig with me anywhere. He is not a dog. And second, he is not a monkey either. He is an _ape_, and he do not take kindly to being mislabelled like that. There's a simple, yet significant difference, verstehen sie: Monkeys have tails, and apes do not. All right, Ludwig that'll be quite enough of that. If you weren't blocking his larynx right now, I'm certain that he would be telling you that he is very sorry about ze mix-up, and that he will never do it again."

The orangutan let go.

"I apologize" Klaus said to Villefontaine. "Ludwig usually has an amiable personality, but he is rather sensitive about this one subject. I hope you will not hold a grugde, mein Herr."

Villefontaine didn't respond. Instead, he picked up some sort of sensor device, and scanned the room closely. Klaus and his hench-ape looked at the guard with mild curiosity, before they directed their attention back to the computer screen they had been looking at. Meanwhile, Villefontaine picked up his caller and whispered something into it in French. Then he turned around and looked rather smugly at Klaus.

"Is there still a problem, mein Herr?"

Suddenly, there was a group of guards at the door. Captain Villefontaine shouted something to them, and without hesitation, the reinforcements opened fire at Klaus, who got into a an odd defensive position, as if he was trying to block the bullets with his arms and legs.

Somehow, this worked, and when the fire ceased, Klaus was walking slowly and awkwardly on what appeared to be mechanical legs, while he strethced out a detatchable arm.

"I knew it!" Villefontaine declared trimphantly. "Your are _not _Klaus von Afonzügel! You're some sort of robot double!"

"Wrong!" Klaus shouted, and knocked the duty officer halfway across the room with his detatchable arm. "I _am _ze real von Afonzügel, and I am _not _a robot, I'm a _cyborg_!" He moved towards the other guards, who fired randomly at him. "And just like my associate here, I do not appreciate being mislabelled." He jumped up into the air and kicked one of the guards in the face. "Come Ludwig, we are not welcome here anymore!" The orangutan leaped across the floor, more gracefully than his master, knocking down a few of the guards on the way. In the noise of alarms, Klaus then jumped onto his back as they hurried down the corridor, still under heavy fire. Responding to the fire with a gun that seemed to be built into his left arm, the middle-aged man tried to remember where he had left his private helicopter. "Turn to the right here, Ludwig!" he barked. "Then move towards –" Without awaiting further instructions, the ape jumped through a window, and climbed as fast as he could down the wall to the backyard where Afonzügel private helicopter was parked.

As they took off, Klaus could see the tiny, but well equipped Fredonian army arriving at the scene. The army just had time to fire a couple of missiles which Ludwig dodged easily before the aircraft disappeard out of the limited, Fredonian airspace.

"Well done, Ludwig." Klaus commented as he took over the steering wheel.

The ape uttered some loud ooks in protest when he noticed what direction his master was steering the helicopter in.

"Don't worry, Ludwig, we're going to see them as soon as possible. But for crossing the Atlantik, we need something faster than a helicopter. Besides, I need to go home and cancel my Fredonian bank account as soon as possible."

The ape grunted some more.

"No, I haven't forgotten what they did for me. For ze both of us…"

**TWO YEARS AGO….**

Klaus von Afonzügel wasn't expecting trouble. He had just left a shareholder's meeting in Los Angeles, when he was surprised to find Robotboy and two of his kid helpers – the blond boy, Tommy, and the black girl whom, in a rather awkwardly twist of fate, happened to be the daughter of one of his business associates – waiting for him outside his downtown skyscraper office complex.

"I do not expect you to voluntarily hand over Robotboy to me", he muttered annoyed, "So what is your business here? Are you trying to expose me?"

"No", the blond boy answered, "We're trying to help you."

"Now why would you do that?"

"Klaus, after what happened in Sausalito last week –" Ms. Mbola began.

"I had nothing to do with that!"

"That's not the point", Tommy said patiently. "But you see, it made us realize it's time we tried to find other way of dealing with Robotboy's enemies besides just getting into a fight every time." He paused. "So…"

"So…?"

"We all know how this began. You had an appointment with professor Moshimo to have some of your limbs replaced with stronger, cybernetic ones, but you were late, and by the time you arrived, the professor had already packed and was about to move."

"Don't remind me!"

"So…are you interested in rescheduling?"

Klaus should have seen that one coming, but in all honesty, he didn't. For a moment, he just stared at robot he had desired to break up for parts, and the kids accompanying him.

"Do you still want new, strong cybernetic limbs?" Ms. Mbola tried.

"Of course, but…"

"Then it's settled", Tommy interrupted and raised a hand. "Let bygones be bygones. All the times you attacked us? All the times you tried to dismantle Robotboy? All is forgiven, provided that you make a new appointment with the professor, and provided that you leave Robotboy alone from now on"

The little, middle-aged man took a deep breath.

"This sounds all good and well, but you'll have to excuse me for being just a tad bit suspicious. Surely there must be a catch?"

Tommy nodded. "Fair enough. There are two catches, actually…"

"Tell me."

"First, the professor won't make you super-strong limbs. Only limbs that make you as strong as, say, an average man"

Klaus lowered his eyebrows. "I see. And the second catch?"

"Second, you must promise not to fire Ludwig, even when you become so strong that you don't need him to look after you all the time" Ms. Mbola said firmly. "He's been your faithful companion since childhood. He deserves better than just to be kicked out on the street!"

"And what if I refuse to agree on these conditions?"

"Then you're just gonna have to try and catch Robotboy and break him up for parts again." Tommy said sardonically. "Maybe you'll succeed next time, but I wouldn't bet on it. And if you don't succeed, you'll still be as weak."

Klaus sighed. "Whose idea was this?"

"Mine", replied Robotboy, who had been oddly quiet throughout the entire conversation. Tommy and Ms. Mbola nodded.

Klaus went over to Robotboy and looked him up and down. Then he slowly put his frail right arm on the robot's shoulder and said:

"There's hope for you yet."

* * *

For some reason, none of Robert's old friends had ever come to visit him in his new home at Orlando Gilbert's estate. So Tommy was a little bit surprised when Lola's rang his doorbell one afternoon and told him he had to come see Robert at home. Waiting for them in a limousine outside was Gus and Robyn - And Mr. Mbola who had insisted on coming along.

When, they arrived at the estate, they were surprised to be greeted not only by Robert and the professor, but by Klaus von Afoncügel.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy demanded. "Where is Orlando Gilbert?"

"Actually…" Ro began, "Actually, _I _am Orlando Gilbert." Klaus finished smugly. "It's an alias I created for…well, for tax purposes, originally. Uh, by the way, Kingsley, that is between us, right?" he added, smiling nervously at Lola's father, before he turned to face Tommy again: "Verstehen sie, it would seem I was unable to keep one of ze promises I made to you children two years ago."

"What do you mean?", Tommy asked.

"You made me promise that I would leave Robotboy alone from now on, but I didn't. After ze professor helped me with my lifelong problem –" he flexed one of his robot arms – "We kept in touch. And when I learned that Robotboy was establishing a human identity, I thought, here is my chance to return the favour. Robotboy was my greatest temptation, but he also became my salvation. I felt I owe him something. So I made an agreement with ze professor – " He made quote marks with his fingers – Robert Jones would come to live at the estate" – he made quote marks again – "Of Orlando Gilbert, who would finance his upbringing and education."

Gus gaped. "Whoa! You're Ro's legal guardian?"

"Only technically. I make no pretence of being a father figure to ze boy. I only occasionally stay at the Gilbert estate anyway. Ze place was mostly for show until Robert moved in."

Tommy gave his best friend an accusing look. "And you couldn't be bothered to tell us this, Ro?"

"Dad said we ought to keep it quiet until further notice." Ro replied.

Everyone except Ro and Klaus turned and looked at Moshimo.

"It was on a strictly need to know basis", the professor said defensively. "I didn't know if you really trusted Mr. Afonzügel, so I was afraid you would make a big fuss of it."

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry", Mr. Mbola commented snarkily. "Here I was upset because you didn't confide in me sooner, but it turns out you're even keeping vital secrets to each other!"

"I cannot blame ze professor, Kingsley" Klaus told him. "After all, I used to be Robotboy's greatest enemy, so ze children had reason to feel –"

"Uh, hate to break it to ya, Klaus" Gus interrupted him, "But you were never Robotboy's _greatest _enemy. That would be Kamikazi. Dr. Kamikazi is like Professor Pit, while you were more like the Suzerain…"

"Come again?" said Klaus, visibly confused.

"Those are two of the Human Fist's arch-enemies." Lola explained helpfully.

"Yeah, sheesh, do you live in a cave?" Gus added

"Come to think of it, the Suzerain also reformed once." Tommy commented. "It didn't stick, of course. Uh, not that I'm trying to imply anything."

"Can we please get back to the subject?", Mr. Mbola snapped. "I want to know if this is leading anywhere!"

"It is, Kinglsey, it is. But first, I would like for ze children to continue their train of thought just a little further. Tell me one thing - Does the Human Fist have an enemy who is the equivalent of Bjorn Bjornson?"

"That would probably be Kid Croesus." Tommy suggested. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I think 'Kid Croesus' is about to get an upgrade."

* * *

_A/N: I can't believe how long it's been since the last update! I'm sorry for that, but rest assured that the next chapter wil be up much sooner. This chapter is mostly to establish Klaus' part in the story. I always planned for him to be involved, but I had some difficulty getting all the pieces to fit together. Enjoy, and please review!_


	14. Mbola Confidential

_A/N:I could've put a lot of things in this chapter, but I've decided to devote most of its space to the Mbola family story, which I've been working on for a long time. Beware, iot's **not **a nice story, but it'll explain quite a few things. Enjoy..._

_

* * *

_

The day after, Tommy was just a little bit surprised to see his best friend attend to school as usual.

"Dad and I discussed it last night", Robert explained – Tommy couldn't help noticing how effortlessly Ro referred to Professsor Moshimo as his "dad" nowadays – "and we reached a compromise, you might say. I have to come and live with him in his secret lab, but I can stay a real boy until further. I told him, even if Klaus is telling the truth, and Bjorn is plotting something, we can't let that stop us from trying to lead normal lives."

"That's the spirit, Ro! I wonder what Bjorn is up too, though. If he went trough the trouble of resurrecting Protoboy, it must be something bad."

"It will backfire on him." Robert said with conviction "In the long run, no one ever benefits from an alliance with my brother." He sighed. "Of course, in the long run, no one ever benefits being his enemy either."

* * *

Bjorn Bjornson woke up in a royal castle filled with tension. As he entered the court kitchen, he found Princess Justine chewing slowly on a piece of scrambled eggs while studying the morning newspaper. There were two newspapers in Fredonia, and Justine was reading _Libertèe Fredonie_, the independent newspaper that told the royal family what they needed to know, but did not like to hear. So naturally, she wasn't too happy. Bjorn tried to lighten her mood with a kiss on the cheek and a "Good morning, beautiful!" It didn't help.

"And how is your dear father this morning?"

"Still furious" the teen princess replied. "Interpol has rejected his demand for an arrest warrant on Afonzügel., They say the claim that one of the bank's wealthiest customers were to break in, is ridiculous. The surveillance cameras were destroyed, and his guards are not accepted as witnesses." She turned and looked him in the eyes. "Why are you so cheerful, anyway?", the princess wanted to know. "It was your plans that Afonzügel hacked into!"

"He didn't find out much", Bjorn assured her. "Not much more than Protoboy already insisted on hinting to his brother. The only change in plans is that I will have to insert my main forces slightly earlier."

"You should do something about my father too, cheri. He does not approve of you right now. He blames you for the break-in. It didn't exactly help the credibility of the bank, you know."

I will make it up to his majesty," Bjorn promised, "by bringing him Afonzügel. And I know just the person to take that bespectacled cyborg down."

"Not that Russian slut that you dragged into my home the other day?"

Bjorn tried not to show how much she was enjoying the ill-concealed jealousy in the princess' voice.

"Miss Kalashnikov prefers to be called mercenary, for that is her profession. And she was only here for a few hours anyway. It's not like she even stayed the night –"

"Fat chance of that happening!"

"In any case I can think of someone even more dangerous who might be up for the job..."

* * *

From time to time, Donnie snuck into Tommy's room just to see if there was anything that he could use against his younger brother. In fact, he did it more often now that Tommy had a girlfriend, because he was hoping to find some dirt on them. It also helped – even if Donnie would never have admitted this to anyone – that his brother had finally gotten rid of his stupid robot toy recently. Something about that toy made him seriously paranoid.

During dinner, Tommy briefly commented that he was going to hang out with a friend from school – Donnie didn't catch the name, the only thing he really took notice of, was that Tommy was going to be out for a while. Too late, Donnie found out that there was going to be a change of plans, and he only had time to hide inside a closet before the door opened. He recognized two voices, and the other one was Lola's:

"First of all...If my dad calls, I'm not here."

"Huh?"

"Just promise me, Tommy. Promise me that if dad or Vivian calls, please tell them I'm not here. Robyn is covering for me, but just in case."

"Okay, I promise."

Donnie was all ears now. Maybe he was about to get more than he bargained for. He could only think of _one _reason why two teenagers - who were an item - would be alone in a bedroom and worry whether their parents knew they were in there together. And the best part was, he'd brought his cell phone with him! With a bit of luck – and stealth – he might be able to get some _very _compromising pictures. He could blackmail Tommy for _years!_

"Something…happened today."

"O…kay" Tommy responded, in confusion.

"Tommy, you have to realize that what I'm about to say, I'm telling you in the utmost confidence."

"Okay."

"I'm serious! You can't tell this to anyone. Not Gus…not Robert…"

_Robert? Is she talking about that Asian kid from the soccer team? And why should Tommy confide in him, anyway? _Donnie thought, impatiently waiting for Lola to get to the juicy details.

"Not even your dad?"

"_Especially _not my dad! That's why you can't tell him I'm here right now. What I'm about to tell you…he doesn't want you to know. But I think you have the right to."

"Sheesh, you got me worried now."

"Well, you should be. I…I need to sit down."

Donnie could hear the two younger teens getting seated.

Then…

"Before I get to the point, Tommy, there are two things you should know about my mother…"

"Uh huh", Tommy responded. His voice sounded even more nervous now.

"First of all. I told you she's dead, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I lied. She's alive."

"What? Then why – "

"I'm getting to that. Second, you have to realize that her marriage to my dad was of convenience. My parents were both from upper-class families, and my mom was picked out by a family council. In other words, it was arranged."

"I see."

Donnie's frustration grew. He was beginning to wonder if this was leading to anything he could use against Tommy.

"Now then…have you ever heard of the Kufanya massacre?"

"Can't say I have, sorry."

"Okay then…Kufanya Valley is a place in the north of Cassaia where they discovered vast mineral resources about ten years ago –"

_What is this, geography class? _, Donnie thought to himself _Give me something I can use! _

The land was owned by a local tribal community, but a company called Chukua Mining tried to buy the land from them for well below market price. The local representatives refused to sell, because they knew that it was worth much more. Negotiations broke down, and for a few weeks, nothing happened. Then...then the community village was attacked by an armed force. Massacred, actually. About five hundred civilians were killed, including women and children."

"That's terrible!"

"Uh huh, and it caused a sensation. The Cassaian government blamed the massacre on a rebel guerilla group from Congo. That sort of made sense, because there are splinter groups in Congo who are laying claim on parts of Northern Cassaia. In any case, the government tried to hush it. Shortly after the massacre, they took control of the land, and sold the mineral rights to Chukua Mining."

"Ah, what you're saying is that Chukua Mining was behind the –"

"I'll get to that in a minute. For a year or so, the government considered the case closed, but then there was a presidental election, and it lead to a change of government. The new president had promised to take serious action against corruption, and it turned out that one of the first things he had done upon taking office, was to start a secret investigation of the Kufanya massacre. What they found out, was that the men who massacred the civilians in Kufanya Valley really did cross the border from Congo. But they were not guerrilla soldiers - They were a death squad, paid for by people in leading positions within Chukua mining. The new President's state attorney general rounded up three main suspects – The general manager of Chukua Mining, who was being accused of ordering the massacre, the former minister of justice, who was accused of being bribed into stopping the investigation of the massacre, and a liaison who was accused of arranging the massacre."

"Uh huh..."

"Tommy...my mom was that liaison."

There was a moment of very awkward silence.

"My mom's family used to be major investors in Chukua, and even though they are still a very respected and high-ranking family in Cassaia, they're involved in some...shady businesses. My mom knew where she could find killers for hire."

Apparently, Tommy still didn't know what to say, and the girl continued:

"The Mbolas had an emergency family meeting, and they decided not to help her out. They didn't want to be involved, because it could seriously harm their reputation. The evidence against her was too obvious, and the President was too determined to get all the suspects convicted. It would prove that he was serious about fighting corruption and that he was doing something about human rights. My dad got a divorce, my mom was forbidden to use the family name Mbola, and her family bought out of Chakua Mining. In the end, the general manager was sentenced to life, the ex-minister was sentenced to ten years in prison, and my mom was sentenced to thirty years. My mom has been in prison for most of my life, Tommy."

There was a moment of uneasy silence.

"Now then, the new president was actually an old friend of my dad's. Apparently, he felt guilty, even though none of them knew that my mom was directly involved. So he offered dad the position as Cassaia's ambassador to the United States. Dad accepted, because he thought I would be safer in America. He was afraid that relatives of the people who died at Kufanya Valley would try to get revenge on me. That's how I got where I am now."

"Revenge! You mean like the lady at the post office."

"Yes, she was a refugee from Kufanya valley. Her husband and daughter died in the massacre, we checked. She recognized the name Yolanda Mbola. But there's more..."

"Even more?"

"A few hours ago, we learned that mom had escaped from prison in Cassaia. Apparently, some sort of super-powered robot broke her out. From the description, I think it might have been Bjorn's robot double."

"So Klaus was right!" Tommy exclaimed "Bjorn is planning something big. I bet he sent me that letter with your old name on it as well!"

Donnie was confused by the names, but he stayed focused.

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're probably right"

"But what does he want with your mom?"

"She has connections, even after she went to jail. And she's tough as nails; I know that from my annual visits. Besides, he might be using her to get to Vivian, or even to you! She's been sending Vivian threatening letters, and she doesn't like you, either."

"But she's never met me."

"No but I've been telling you about her, and...and...well….I'm sorry for telling you this, but she just doesn't like the idea of me taking such an interest in a white boy."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Just please let me stay here for as long as possible, Tommy. Dad was anxious enough after hearing what Klaus had to tell us. Now that mom has escaped, he's expecting for the worst, and he's probably right to do so. The moment I go back, he probably won't let me out again."

"I promise. But Lola...?"

"Yes?"

"I know this sounds very trivial after everything you've just told me, but – What's your mom's name?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you that? It's Yolanda Miriam Adhabu"

"You were named after your mom?"

"Yeah, it's an Adhabu family tradition. They have some other traditions too, which aren't as nice. The Adhabus used to be fierce warriors, and in the way, they still ...if the worst should happen, if you ever have to confront my mom, please don't try to be a hero. You don't know how dangerous she can be."

"I'm getting an idea. But I'm not afraid of her."

"Then pretend that you are! You'll be safer that way."

For the longest time, there was silence. Finally, Donnie heard footsteps, followed by the sound of a door closing. Slowly, he stepped out of the closet, and hurried out of his brother's room. He was pale, and wet with sweat.

* * *

Although Tommy didn't want to admit it, the reason why he stayed in his room for so long, was that he had lost the feeling in his legs. Finding out that your girlfriend's mother was a mass murderer, an escaped convict, a racist, and some sort of mobster, was more than anyone should have to absorb in the course of one afternoon. But for Lola's sake he would have to suppress all of this for the moment. All she wanted was one more evening together. Things might fall apart tomorrow, or at least in just a few days.

Tommy's parents, who seemed pleased that Lola came to their house for a change, let them have the living room to themselves most of the evening. Donnie, in the meantime had gone to the local gym, hoping that pumping some iron would take his mind of the unfathomable family secrets he'd overheard on this day. It worked, and by the time he got home, he'd regained most of his self-confidence. "Move over, squirt!" he said to his younger brother, who was sitting alone in front of the tv at the moment. "American Amazons is on now!"

"Donnie, I'm watching this!" snapped Tommy, who wasn't about to be intimidated by his bullish big brother after what he'd learned today. "Missing one episode of American Amazons won't kill you."

Donnie's immediate response to this was to roll up his sleeves, but he hesitated when he suddenly noticed that Lola was standing right behind him.

"It's no big deal, Tommy", she said calmly and picked up her cell phone. "I can just call –"

"NO! Don't call! Don't call anyone!" Donnie cried, and to his brother's astonishment, he went down on his knees in front of Lola. "I…I…meant to ask him politely! I'm sorry if it came out wrong! Actually, I don't really care about American Amazons. I…I was on my way out - I wasn't going to watch tv anyway!" He got up, and with and apologetic grin, he hurriedly brushed the pillow where Lola had been sitting just a moment ago. "Like I said, I was on my way out, I'm not gonna disturb you guys, stay as long as you like Lola! Please just don't…_call_ anyone!"

Then, before the couple had time to react, Donnie ran out the front door, jumped on his motorcycle, and disappeared.

For a long while, Tommy and Lola just stared out of the window, Finally, Lola asked:

"Who…who did he think I was going to call?"


	15. Mother's Little Helpers

Bjorn Bjornson now realized that the sooner he could get he operation started, the better. Not only because parts of his cover had been blown, but because collecting so many rogues under the same roof was beginning to seem very unsafe. Sure, they were staying in his family's holiday home, but ever since Afonzügel's break-in, the King was keeping a watchful eye on them. Especially since Justine kept dropping by. And while Bjorn was very happy for her company, she didn't get on well with the latest addition to his little army, Mrs. Y. Miriam Adhabu. Mostly, Mrs. Adhabu kept to herself. The African woman didn't exactly give the impression of being a very sociable person. With her crew cut hair, her ever-watchful eyes staring at you from behind a pair of glasses, her sleek physique and her stoic stance, she looked like a strict governess.

On occasion, however, she still ran into Justine, and things could get ugly. It was obvious that she had no respect for the young princess. One afternoon, as she was studying some papers in the main hall, a bored Justine turned on the music system. Mrs. Adhabu looked up from her papers. "Please turn off that racket", she said slowly, although it sounded more like a demand than a request, and that's how Justine perceived it as well.

"You have a lot of nerve if you think you can tell me what to do in my own kingdom." she sniffed.

"This kingdom is not yours, it's your father's, and this place belongs to the Bjornsons." The lady pointed out, without looking at Justine. "You own nothing here, except for a useless title and a spoilt, bratty attitude. Now turn it off and leave me alone!"

Losing her calm, the princess began waving her fists in the air.

"That does it! You and me, we fight now, disrespectful witch!"

Mrs. Adhabu did not look up from her papers.

"I cannot do that. I promised young Bjornson that I would not touch you."

"That's not for Bjorn to decide!" the princess snapped. "Stand up and fight! I'm not afraid of you, I know kung fu!"

"The last brat who said that to me spent three weeks in the prison's hospital wing." Mrs. Adhabu commented dryly as Justine waved her arms. "I am not fighting you, child."

Snarling, Justine tried to hit the woman with a series of chops, all of which the she blocked easily. The spoiled young teen's vain attempts at intimidating her with basic martial arts skills only frustrated the African woman, and she was relieved when Bjornson decided to interfere.

Bjorn took the young woman aside and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was, it seemed to do the trick. She smiled at him "Ehehe, bien, when you put it that way…". She blushed and kissed the young man quickly on the lips before leaving the room.

Mrs. Adhabu turned and looked at Bjorn, who turned off music system. "Thank you.", she said dutifully, then once again directed her attention to her papers, as if she had hardly noticed either him or the princess being present.

Bjorn took a peek at the papers she had laid out on the table.

"What's –"

"It's a map of my ex-husband's estate in San Francisco" she replied without taking her eyes of said map.

"You like to be prepared, I see."

"Of course. I've had it updated seven times during the last five years."

"You've studied that map for five years?"

The woman merely nodded, still not looking up.

"Ma'am, I don't know whether to be impressed or frightened by your determination."

"I am totally indifferent to how you look at me", the woman replied, looking long and hard at Bjorn for the first time this morning, "As long as you help get me my daughter back."

Despite Y. Miriam Adhabu's reputation, she was probably the only one in his party whose intentions were nothing but noble, Bjorn concluded. She just wanted to be reunited with her child..

"And if I, in the process, get a chance to get back at my deceitful ex-husband…and his Anglo hoe of a wife…and the white boy who's been groping my daughter…then all the better." She finsihed, as if she read Bjorn's mind, and wanted to correct him.

_Okay, not just noble_, Bjorn thought to himself. And for some reason, he took great comfort that knowledge. But he sure didn't envy Tommy Turnbull right now.

Organizing this whole operation had been more difficult than he expected. It was understandable that General Yakitori refused to lead the assault on the Turnbulls' home. Bjorn was more surprised to learn that Dr. Kamikazi also refused to take part in it, and that just like Yakitori, it was for personal reasons. Apparently, his and Tommy's mother were playing mah-jong together. After much discussion, Bjorn had convinced Kamikazi to make up a third party along with Bjornbot Prime, while Constantine, along with Klashnikov, would go to the Turnbull household. Brian had agreed to fly over to the Orlando Gilbert estate, probably because he was hoping to find Moshimo there. But Bjorn suspected that he would not even find his intended quarry, Robotboy, there any more. It went without saying that Mrs. Adhabu and Protoboy were going to take care of the Mbola estate, but Bjorn talked Yakitori into going with them - If only because it felt safer to have at least one person on the Mbola team who wasn't completely erratic. Bjornbot Prime was not happy; he had wanted to be on the Mbola team as well, but there was no way Bjorn would risk putting him on the same team as Protoboy. They would only end up fighting over the same object. The whole plan was dangerous enough as it was already.

* * *

Lola was frustrated. All day, at school, she had been followed around by two bodyguards who had insisted on rummaging Tommy's bag and pockets before he was even allowed to talk to her, and they kept hanging over his shoulders for as long as he was near her. When Tommy objected, one of the bodyguards asked him if it was true that Dr. Kamikazi had once sent an undercover agent posing as him, and Tommy reluctantly admitted this. Naturally, the bodyguards thought they had made their point.

The frustration continued when she and Robyn came home from school, only to find that the military contractors who barricaded the entire mansion had had the bright idea of installing a metal detector. Naturally, Robyn couldn't help but triggering it. In the end, the situation was solved by professor Moshimo, who managed to convince the contractors that he was the family surgeon, and that the detector was triggered by a metal replacement which he had operated into Robyn's hip.

However, the professor was not here today primarly to help Robyn with the metal detector.

"If what Mr. Afonzügel has told us is true", he began as the Mbola family was gathered, "we are going to need all the powers at our disposal."

"So you are finally going remove my blocking chip?" Robyn asked , with mild enthusiasm.

"Yes" the professor said, fiddling with his tools, "Although I really hope you won't have to use them, Robotgirl."

"Robyn! She has a name, you know!", Vivian said angrily.

"Yes of course, ma'am, I'm so sorry."

Vivian's facial expression changed.

"But professor? Will it…hurt?"

"Oh no, not at all, ma'am. I will simply switch her off during the process."

Vivian's lips shivered. "Switch her…off?" Vivian muttered uneasily, her lips shivering, as if it was the same as saying that Robyn would be clinically dead during the operation. But the professor realized that in Vivian's eyes, it probably was the same. He was trying his best to be a father to Robotboy, but Robotgirl already had devoted parent. And to Vivian, Robotgirl was not a robot, just a child.

"She will be fine, ma'am" assured her with the calmest and most sympathetical voice he could muster.

The entire ordeal took roughly one minute, but it probably felt much longer for Vivian. She didn't take her eyes off Robyn for a second, studying the professor's operation as a concerend mother watching her daughter getting vital surgery. When the professor had finished removing the chip, and put her back in normal mode, Vivain slowly embraced her.

"What happens now?" Robyn asked.

"Now we wait." Lola and the professor said, almost in unison.

* * *

They didn't have to wait very long.

The very nexy afternoon, Gus was on his way to the ice cream truck's nearest stop, when he ran into a rather frustrated and angry-looking Tommy. His facial expression was easy to read.

"Is it Lola again?" he said , not sounding too symphatetical.

"No! It's everything _around _Lola!" he snapped. "Again! The bodyguards won't leave us alone for a second, and now her dad won't even let me into the house. He sees enemies everywhere. Lola's family is preparing for war, and the worst part is that they're probably right to do so. I'm beginning to wish that Bjorn's posse would just attack already and get it over with!"

"I hear ya, buddy. Let's go for a fudgesicle, that'll cheer you up. At least it'll cheer _me_ up."

"Ice cream is not the solution to everything, G-Man."

"It usually is to me."

"Sometimes I envy you that attitude."

Gus sighed and looked up. "That's pretty much the only thing you have to envy me, Tommy. Well, that and the lack of any…older…siblings…whoa!"

"What?"

"I think you're about to get your wish, dude. Look up in the sky. Isn't that…"

* * *

"Protoboy!" Lola cried as the familiar figure turned up on the surveillance cameras. "We are so screwed!"

"I can take him!" Robyn shouted defiantly. "I would've gotten him the last time, if he hadn't kicked out my batteries!"

"Nobody is screwed yet, and nobody is fighting anybody yet!" Mr. Mbola commented, trying to stay calm. "At least nobody in this room. Our security is strong enough to withstand an attack from an army!"

Lola winced "An army? That's all good an well, dad…" she began, but was interrupted by a violent bang from the foyer. The whole family ran towards the staircase and looked down.

The entrance door was broken up, and dumbstruck security guards were scattered all over the foyer. Before them, a terrifying figure was moving slowly with heavy steps.

"But that doesn't mean it's strong enough to withstand an attack from _Protoboy!_", she finished.


	16. Babysitter To The Psychos

_A/N Wow, it just occured to me that I spent fifteen chapters bulding up to this fight. And it's far from over yet._

_There's been fewer reviews lately, but I hope that's just a passing phase. __Remember, all responses are appreciated._

_

* * *

_

Y. Mriam Adhabu and General Yakitori quickly entered the door which Protoboy had blown open. Mrs. Adhabu had to admit that she was impressed by the sheer force this machination was possessing. At least half of the security guards were on the floor. For the moment, there was little for her orYakitori to do besides knocking out the ones who were still able to stand up, or at least trying to get up.

Suddenly, the floor began shaking as if the house was struck by a minor earthquake. It turned out to be a very large man running towards the invading trio.

"That's Charles Kadinga!" Yakitori exclaimed with poorly concealed awe.

"Well, of course!" Mrs. Adhabu commented, as if the general had just made the most obvious statement in the world.

Kadinga was about equal height as Protoboy in his superactivated form, and for a moment it looked as if Protoboy was going to engage him. But then he shrugged, which Mrs. Adhabu took as a sign to make her move. Kadinga pepared to open fire, but the woman in front of him drew first, fired at his right hand and caused him to lose his gun. Then she swiftly snapped her leg out and gave the large mecenary a fast, hard kick in the front of his right knee cap. He fell down on his knees, groaning in pain. Taking no pity on her opponent, Y. Mriram Adhabu followed up with a hard kick in his face, which made him collapse and fall over.

"I could have taken him." Yakitori growled.

"I doubt it, general. I've seen your fighting techniques." Mrs Adhabu informed him. "And they are obsolete" She moved forward, facing little resistance from the few security guards who were still standing. The sight of Charles Kadinga being taken down so easily was discouraging.

"I don't know why Bjornson wanted you to come along with us anyway", she continued.

Yakitori sighed. Quite frankly, he hardly understood it himself. He had used one of Bjornson's aircrafts to transport Mrs. Adhabu here, and the brat wouldn't even let him bring his own fighting machine, because apparently it was "too conspicuous". Too conspicuous? Compared to Protoboy, who destroyed everything that got in his way, and quite a few things that stayed out of his way? Between Protoboy and the rather manic Y. Miriam Adhabu, he felt like he had been appointed babysitter to the psychos.

The trio looked up and noticed a teenaged girl who was coming down the stairs while apparently peeling off her skin. It was a rather disturbing sight to everyone present, even though they all know who this probably was.

"**ROBOTGIRL. I DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT YOU. " **

"You have no choice!" she replied in a voice that, with or without human skin, sounded strikingly human compared to Protoboy's. The figure in front of them was no longer human-looking, but a pink and white fembot whose design wasn't too far removed from Protoboy's.

"Yes he does." Mrs. Adhabu said. As she aimed the particle beam gun at the machination that was, in the strictest possible sense, her own stepdaughter, She remembered what Bjorn had told her:

"_This particle beam__ gun is an invention of Dr. Kamikazi's which I have perfected. The original would only disrupt the superactivation functions of Professor Moshimo's robots. This new model, however, will completely put them out of action. All you need is one direct shot right at them. But keep in mind that it takes a lot of power to deactivate one of these robots. The gun can only fit in enough electricity for two shots, or it'll overload. So use it carefully. "_

Well, I'm not going to miss a target that is standing only two or three meters from me, she thought to herself before she fired straight at Robotgirl, who reacted with spastic movements, and convulsive shaking before she began reverting to her original form.

"Robyn!" a woman's voice shouted out from the top of the stairs.

"Mummy…run…!" was all the fembot could express before she reverted to her unconscious "doll" stadium.

At first, the call was not followed by the person concerned. From the top of the stairs, the invading trio noticed how Kingsley Mbola had to drag his wife kicking and screaming away from the foyer.

"So far so good", Y. Miriam Adhabu concluded.

"**INDEED"****, **Protoboy agreed, and picked up the unconscious Robotgirl. **"NOW I CLAIM MY BRIDE."**

"_BRIDE?"_his partners gasped in unison.

Protoboy turned and looked threateningly at them. Granted, he always looked threateningly at everyone – it was the only facial expression he had, after all – but somehow, they could tell that he meant it this time.

"Fine, it's really none of my business anyway" Yakitori said with a shrug.

"And I have _real_ family business to take care of." Y. Miriam Adhabu declared as she walked past Protoboy and up the stairs. "You hold the fort here."

**~ 0 ~**

Carrying Tommy and Gus, Robotboy landed on the roof of the Mbola estate. The three of them found a hatch that Tommy knew about from before, and began exploring the top floor. For the next few minutes, nothing happened – Until Robotboy stopped abruptly.

"What is it, Ro?"

"Robyn is in danger. I can tell…Our sensors are connected. She is downstairs, I should help her." He paused momentarily. "Hey, the signal suddenly disappeared. That can't be good." He turned and looked his friends in the eyes. "Will you guys be okay on your own?"

"Actually – " Gus began anxiously. "We'll manage." Tommy interrupted him. "You go and help her."

"Thanks" Ro called out, taking off.

"Do I never get a say in these affairs?" Gus complained

"_What's all this racket? Show yourselves whoever you are_!" an authoritative woman's voice called out from the living room at the end of the corridor.

Dragging Gus with him, Tommy went into the living room, where they faced a black woman with a red blouse, knee-length skirt, glasses and short hair. She only studied the two boys for a few seconds before she pulled a gun out of her blouse.

"Thomas Turnbull!", she stated. "Yes, I know who you are, so bluffing won't help you. You shouldn't have come here!"

"Dude, you know this lady?" Gus asked.

"I'm not sure, but –" Tommy began, before said lady interrupted him:

"I am Yolanda Miriam Adhabu."

Tommy stiffened. "Uh oh…"

"Who?"

"She's Lola's mom."

Gus looked preplexed. "Lola's m….isn't she dead?"

"It's a long story…"

"And there's no need to bother with it, Turnbull. You won't live long enough to tell it!"

"Whoa, you're not gonna shoot Tommy, are ya?", Gus shrieked

The woman turned towards the red-haired teen. "Let's just say that _you _are not even worth killing, Augustus Bachman-Turner. So if you really _are _the coward that all my informants claim you are, I suggest you leave this room and let young Turnbull and me to conduct our business in peace!"

To Gus' credit, he didn't move, even though he looked like he was about to faint.Y. Miriam Adhabu returned her attention to Tommy.

"My family's honor must be restored!" she announced to the blond teen. "You will pay for having taken my daughter's innocence!"

It took a few seconds before Tommy realized exactly what she meant by those last words.

"Wait a minute, Mrs Adhabu", he said as calmly as he could. "You're wrong, I haven't _touched _Lola! Well, not like _that_, anyway!"

The woman stared Tommy intensely into his eyes.

"You know" she said eventually, "I believe you."

Tommy's feeling of relief was short-lived.

"Which means that I got here in time!" she added and pointed the gun towards Tommy's forehead. Almost instantly, it was blasted out of her hands by a ray.

"Ro!" Tommy exclaimed in relief as his friend flew right over their heads.

"You must be Protoboy's successor" Adhabu commented as she pulled another gun out of her blouse. "No matter, I came prepared for you as well."

When Robotboy saw her gun, he flew straight at her and knocked her to the ground. Falling back, she still held on to her gun. Hurrieldy, Robotboy grabbed Tommy and Gus and flew them out of the living room.

"Why are you running away?" Gus demanded. "You could've taken her easily!"

"Not right now." Robotboy said apologetically, "She has Kamikazi's particle beam gun. We need to take it from her first."

"Well, don't look at me!" Gus cried. "She has a_ real_ gun too, and she's a total psycho!"

"Did you find Robyn, by the way?"

"No, but I ran into Lola, and she begged me to go back and protect you guys instead. And for good reason, it would seem.", he explained, putting his friends down.

"So you know where Lola is?" Tommy said anxiously. "Ro, we have to hurry up and –"

"But Tommy?" Gus butted in, "If that really was Lola's mom, where's she been all this time?"

"Uh, I kinda promised Lola I wouldn't tell."

"If you say so dude. If that's what Lola's gonna grow up to become, I guess I should be glad that she prefers…" he was quite for a moment. Then he began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" Tommy asked angrily, and the answer didn't make him any less angry:

"I just realized what she meant when she talked about taking Lola's innocence", and giggled even more.

Ro and Tommy looked at each other.

"Do you want to do it, or shall I"

"I'll do it."

"But it will hurt more if I do it."

"Yeah, but it'll feel more satisfying if I do it", Tommy said, rolling up his sleeve. "For me, anyway"

"Heh heh, she said –"

SLAP!

"OW! What did you do that for?"

**~ 0 ~**

Having lost track of the American boys and their robot friend, Y. Miriam Adhabu moved around in the house. As she approached the kitchen, she became aware of a low, hawking sound, as if somone was purposely trying to get her attention. She leapt to the kitchen entrance, aiming her gun.

"Kingsley!" she exclaimed.

"Hello, Yolanda." Her ex-husband said calmly, and took off his trademark leopard skin fez. In a curious exchange of courtesy, she put down her gun.

"This is not going to be a happy reunion, I take it", the ambassador continued.

"The only happy reunion I would ever have with you will be at your funeral", she quipped.

"Yolanda, what do you think you're doing? Why have you allied yourself with young Bjornson's ragtag buch of criminals and guns for hire?"

"They are simply means to and end. I'm here to take back my daughter."

"_Our _daughter", Mr. Mbola said a little more sharply. "And what can you offer her? A life on the run?"

"Don't you worry about that. There are plenty of countries that don't have an extradition treaty with Cassaia. I will find a safe haven and establish a new life with Lola."

"The police will be here in a few minutes." Her ex-husband pointed out.

"So? Protoboy will handle them. But have you ever seen that cybernetic demon when he _really_ turns loose? There will be many policeman widows in the Bay Area tonight, if you insist on wasting my time. Tell me where Lola is!"

"You have to get through me to get her!" the stout man said defiantly.

The woman's eyes lowered.

"Don't be a fool, Kingsley." She said, before she jumped up and kicked him to the jaw.

"Like all Mbolas, you are leisurely and decadent." She commented, leaning over him. "You should know that you would never stand a chance against me. And just so you know it, I deliberatedly held back. If I wanted to, I could've given you a kick that would've shattered your lower jaw and caused so much internal damage on your throat that you would've choked on your own blood. I was tempted to do it, but Lola would never forgive me."

She got up.

"And you have been a good father, I suppose. Too soft, no doubt, but I will whip the easy living out of her soon enough. She's going to grow up to become a proud warrior, not a pudgy aristocrat like you. She shall become an Adhabu, not an Mbola, and Adhabus do not waste time with diplomacy. Whoever do us wrong, will get back tenfold. We do not stand for any insult!"

"Is that so?" the ambassador muttered. "Then why have you allied yourself with Dr. Kamikazi?"

Mrs. Adhabu looked at him curiously. "The loudmouthed, little yellow man? What about him?"

Kingsley Mbola told her.

_**TBC**_


	17. Your Loved Ones

Tommy and Gus found Vivian wandering alone in the corridor of the Mbola estate. Unfortunately, she was too shaky to be of any real help. When Tommy tried to ask her if she'd seen Protoboy, or where Robyn was, she broke down sobbing:

_"She called me mum..."_

The two boys exchanged puzzled glances.

"My sensors tell me that Protoboy is on the same floor as us at this moment" Robotboy informed them after doing a scan. "We should go and find him."

"Seek out Protoboy? Are you crazy?" Gus shrieked.

"I know that Protoboy wants to fight me. It cannot be avoided. I might as well confront him now and get it over w-**ACK!**"

Robotboy suddenly began flipping in spastic movements, and shaking convulsively. Then he reverted back to his unconscious "toy robot" form, and fell flat down on the floor.

Standing in front of him was the cause of Robotboy's sudden deactivation: Y. Mriram Adhabu, pointing the particle beam gun.

"I am ashamed to shoot an opponent, any opponent, in the back." she commented, waving the gun. "But he was getting wise to me, and we don't have much time."

Tommy ran towards his friend.

"He'll be okay again as soon as you have found a source to reload his batteries", the woman told him. "In the meantime, I would like to remind you that Yakitori and I are the only ones here with a functional fighting robot on our side." She pointed at Protoboy, who was holding the slightly battered Kingsley Mbola. "The balance of power is in our favor."

"Kingsley?" Vivian asked.

"He's okay." Mrs. Adhabu told her. "But he won't be, if you don't cooperate!"

"Don't listen to her!" the ambassador cried. "She won't kill me! She told me so herself!"

Y. Miriam Adhabu pushed her husband out of the way.

"All right, be a wise ass about it, Kingsley!" she commented. "But remember that there are other people in this room that I will have less qualms about killing! Now then..."

"What have you done to my daughter?" Vivian demanded.

Mrs. Abhabu glared at her her, visibly annoyed at being interrupted. "Ask him", she said, pointing at Protoboy.

"**SHE MINE NOW, ONLY MINE. I TAKE HER AWAY."**

"No!" "Spontaneously and rather foolhardy, Vivian ran towards Protoboy. Y. Miriam Adhabu grabbed her by the neck and right arm, and pulled her backwards.

"If you volunteer to be a hostage, be my guest.", Mrs. Adhabu quipped, and fastened the grip on Vivian. Ambassdor Mbola, who knew that his ex-wife could break his current wife's neck any second if she wanted, proceeded with the utmost caution.

"Yolanda, please…don't be hasty about this…"

"The time for reflection is over , Kingsley! My patience is running out, and you know what I want."

"So do I."

The last remark came from a young girl whose voice they all recognized instantly. Tommy, the ambassador and Mrs Adahbu all turned towards the doorway.

"Lola…" Mrs Adhabu began. Her voice suddenly sounded a lot more mellow, even though her grip around Vivian's neck was as tight as ever.

"Mom…I will come with you voluntarily. On the condition that you promise not to hurt Tommy, Vivian, dad…or Gus for that matter. Not now, _not ever_."

The woman nodded slowly. "I promise."

"And you have to promise that you will try and stop others from hurting them, if you have the possibility."

The last part seemed to puzzle everyone who was present, including Mrs. Adhabu. After nearly a minute's silence, she bit her teeth together before she said.

"No long goodbyes! In fact, no goodbyes at all!"

"Deal."

"Then I promise." She let go off Vivian and picked up a receiver. "General, we are ready to leave. Bring the transport to the backyard."

Everyone looked up as a small aircraft without any insignia landed on the lawn. A hatch opened to reveal two empty seats

The woman looked up from the receiver. and towards her partner in crime.

"Protoboy, are you coming?"

"**IN A MINUTE. I NEED TO TELL TOMMY SOMETHING**."

"Protoboy", she objected. "I gave just my word that I would not allow these people to get hurt."

"**I SAY, I TALK, ONLY TALK. NO HURT. NOT YET." **

General Yakitori opened the cockpit and looked around. With a grace and caution that was highly unusual for Protoboy, he held the deactivated Robotgirl in his arms.

"Remember to bring the other robot as well.", he told him.

"**NO. ROBOTBOY STAY WHERE HE IS."**

"What do you mean? We have Robotboy dead to rights. This is the perfect time to catch him."

"**WE NOT DEFEAT HIM THIS WAY. I ALONE DEFEAT HIM IN FAIR FIGHT."**

"But the general is right, Protoboy", Y. Miriam Adhabu argued. "If we bring Robotboy, our backs are covered. All of Moshimo's powerhouses will be in our possess – "

**"I DEAL WITH MOSHIMO. AND I DEAL WITH ROBOTBOY, WHEN HE READY TO FIGHT ME. WHEN ROBOTBOY FULLY ACTIVATED, I FIGHT HIM. UNTIL THEN, NOBODY IS TO TOUCH HIM, UNDERSTAND?", **the robot bellowed, activating a dozen guns at the same time and pointing them at his partners to make his point clear. They both backed down.

**"TOMMY", **he said, turning around, **"TELL ROBOTBOY TO COME AFTER ME."**

"Oh don't worry, he will." Tommy declared.

The big robot picked up the deactivated form of his younger "brother", and threw it into Tommy's lap.

"**AND TELL HIM TO HURRY" **, he added,** "**_**MY**_** PATIENCE IS ALSO RUNNING OUT."**

"Right then", Y. Miriam Adhabu sighed, and turned her attention to her daughter . "After you." , she said calmly to Lola, pointing at the craft.

Lola slowly walked towards the aircraft, got seated and buckled up, never looking up the whole time. But as Mrs. Adhabu got ready to climb aboard, the general silence was broken by Tommy, who suddenly began running towards the craft.

"Lola!", he shouted, "_I love you!"_

This outburst was followed by a few seconds of complete silence. Mrs. Adhabu hesitated for a moment before she climbed on board, pretending that she hadn't heard the last outcry. Then, as she noticed that Lola was trying to trying to get up, she grabbed the hatch. Lola just had time to open her mouth before her mother slammed the door shut. From the outside, the small crowd on the lawn could hear Mrs. Adhabu demanding that the aircraft take off immediately, and it did.

For a minute or so, mother and daughter did not say as much as a word to each other. Then Mrs. Adhabu suddenly snapped:

"I said, no goodbyes!"

Lola frowned. "I was just going to say –"

"I know what you were going to say, and it sickens me. The sooner you get over that boy, the better."

Naturally, this did nothing to lighten the mood, and for a few minutes the two of them skulked at each other.

"Lola…" the mother suddenly began.

"What?"

"Tell me more about this Dr. Kamikazi."

Lola winced. She wasn't expecting her mother to try and change the subject like that.

But she answered her questions anyway.

**~0~**

Back on the ground, Tommy stared defiantly at Protoboy.

"Well, it looks like you've won, for once. Robotboy's out cold, and you got the girl…"

**"AND WE GOT _YOUR_ GIRL"** the mad robot gloated.

Tommy gritted his teeth. "So what is you wanted to tell me?"

**"YOU BEEN PLAYED FOR SUCKERS, IS WHAT I WANTED TO TELL YOU. WE KEEP YOU BUSY AT MBOLA'S PLACE WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME TO TO DEFEND YOUR OWN FAMILY."**

Tommy turned pale as he realized what Protoboy meant.

**"YOU THINK THIS IS ONLY PLACE BJORN WANTED US TO ATTACK?"** the robot continued, just to make his point clear.

Tommy and Gus looked at each other. Gus' expression suggested that even he got the point this time, and so both boys took off. Tommy had never heard Protoboy laugh, but he could've sworn that he heard him snicker before he took off, with Robotgirl still in his arms.

**"AU REVOIR, TOMMY!"**

By the time Protoboy took off, the Mbola estate was surrounded by police cars. Some of the constables tried shooting at the robot, which was completely in vain, of course. The cops were initially very reluctant to let anyone leave the premises until they had finished questioning everyone, but Mr. Mbola somehow managed to convince them to let Tommy and Gus leave as soon as possible. As Tommy left, he assured the ambassador and Vivian that they would get Lola and Robyn back. He had no idea how they would do it yet, he admitted to himself, but they would find a way. That was the only thing Tommy was sure of at this moment.

**~0~**

When Tommy came back home, it was evident that someone had been raiding his house. He kept looking for signs of life, until he finally found Donnie hidden in a closet. After spending several minutes trying to convince his older brother that he was who he claimed to be, Tommy finally got him to open the door. The big jock was shaking like a leaf.

"Wh…wh..what didya do to her, Tommy?" he

"Do to who?"

"To Lola. What didya do to piss her off?"

"I haven't done anything to her."

"Then it must've been her mom or sumthin' who sent those goons."

"Actually, that might…" Tommy hesitated. He wasn't sure what question he needed to have answered first. "What do you know about Lola's mom?"

"Well, she's a psycho criminal, right?"

"How do you know…" Come to think of it, that was actually not the most important thing right now, Tommy decided. "Amd who were the goons, by the way?"

"A sumo wrestler and some metallic dude with a fancy hairdo. They wore Italian suits, both of 'em..."

Constantine and Bjornbot!

"You didn't see and short, old Asian man with them?" Tommy asked

"Uh, no." Donnie looked confused, probably because he was expecting Tommy to have different priorities at a time like this.

"What happened, then?" Tommy asked.

"They dragged mom and dad with'em, an' told me to stay here to tell you what happened. Oh, and the sumo guy raided your closets, for some reason..."

Both brothers jumped as they heard footsteps from the first floor. Tommy ran downstairs, with the deactivated Robotboy

"Oh, it's just you, Gus."

"Well, who'd'ya except...wow, someone really did a number on this place."

"Constantine and Bjornbot took my parents hostage!" Tommy exclaimed

"Not Kamikazi?"

Tommy shook his head. "But Klaus was right, Bjorn's been gathering every bad guy we know. I bet they went to your house as well."

Gus shrugged "You'd think so, but I just checked. My folks are just fine, and nobody's been there."

The redhead took a moment to reflect on this.

"You know, I feel kinda insulted. It's as if Bjorn doesn't think I'm important enough to take anyone I know hostage..."

He hesitated

"Unless..."

"Unless what?" Tommy urged.

"Nah, it can't be."Gus picked up his cell phone. "But maybe I should just call and check on her, just in case." Without explaining anything more, he dialed a number. Whoever he was calling answered immediately.

"Hello? Oh, it's you Benjamin. Have you seen...whoa calm down, I'm not catching this..._what?_..._who?_...Really...No , I _don't_ think you're making this up...really, I don't. Now listen, we'll be right over...Yeah, Tommy and me...don't tell Hillary anything, okay? We'll be right over, promise."

Gus hung up.

"Well, now we know where Dr. Kamikazi went.", he sighed.

* * *

_A/N: To be continued, of course. And I'm telling you who Dr. Kamikazi (along with an ally) kidnapped yet, but if you've read the previous chapters, you can probably guess..._


	18. What Happens After The Bad Guys Win

Of all his allies, Brian was probably the one whose company Bjorn enjoyed the least – And that included Protoboy! But at least the surly, sanctimonious Yak-man was able to provide him with a secret headquarter on the right continent, just south of the border. It was so much easier than travelling to and from central Europe.

Kamikazi, Sussie, Constantine and Bjorn's own robot double had already arrived with the hostages, and now General Yakitori's aircraft was just about to land on a platform by the secret cave entrance. With satisfaction, Bjorn noticed that the third party was bringing both Miss Mbola and Robotgirl. He was a little bit disappointed to learn that Protoboy refused to let anyone take Robotboy captive until he had defeated his brother in a fight, but all things considered, that was only a minor delay.

"Is everyone here?" Adhabu asked him as they were about to enter the cave.

Bjorn nodded.

"Good. I need to make an announcement, right away. And then I need to talk to you alone, Bjorn. It concerns Dr. Kamikazi… "

Bjorn smiled, suspecting that one part of his plan had just been made a little easier for him. "Very well. But the last part will have to wait just a little while longer, Yolanda. I have a very busy schedule today."

"Don't keep me waiting too long", she said before she led Lola into a lab that Bjorn had refurbished into an assembly hall where Brian, Dr. Kamikazi, Constantine, Sussie and Bjornbot Prime were all present at the moment. General Yakitori, Protoboy and Bjorn followed close behind.

"Now listen up, you!" Mrs. Adhabu shouted as she put her arms around Lola. "You people only know Lola as one of Robotboy's helpers, but she is my daughter, and she came here _voluntarily_. That means she is _not _a prisoner or a hostage, and if any of you try to treat her in such a manner, I will make you regret it! Am I making myself clear?"

Everyone nodded, except Protoboy, who couldn't be bothered. Something about the woman's appearance and manners made it easy for her to get attention. She threw an extra glance at Kamikazi, and noticed he was sweating.

"Lola may go wherever she pleases." Mrs. Adhabu continued. "She gave me her word, and I trust her. If any of you have a problem with that, you can take it up with me! Do you understand?"

Again, everyone except Protoboy nodded, although Brian muttered under his breath. Adhabu ignored this, and turned to face Bjorn.

"Do you understand too, Bjorn?"

"Loud and clear", he replied, smiling amiably. Now, if you excuse me, I need to see to our other guests."

**~0~**

Bjorn had had his doubts about abducting one of Gus' friends from school. However, Kamikazi refused to take Gus' parents hostage because he thought they were "too scary". Bjorn had never seen these parents himself, but he noticed that the painting "American Gothic" was often mentioned when he asked people to describe them. Instead, Kamikazi had suggested that they went after some girl scout with Asperger's because Gus was often seen in her company. Out of curiosity, since she had never met this girl before either, he decided to pay her a visit first.

Upon entering her improvised cell, he rolled his eyes and groaned. The girl was tied to a chair. And not just at the wrist and the feet – Her entire torso was wrapped up in ropes. Bjorn worried about Kamikazi, he really did. An old man who spied on people even in their _dreams_, and who used such gratuitous amounts of rope to tie up even an obviously harmless opponent – There was something deeply disturbing about that.

"Ms. Higgenbottom", he began, "First of all I'd really like to apologize for the unnecessarily rough treatment you've been receiving from my associate. I'll get you out of those ropes right away. Just let me go and get a pair of scissors…"

"No!" the girl yelped.

"Come again?"

"I earned three Honeybee patches for escapology. Now I finally have a chance to make practical use of that." She explained, wriggling her arms underneath the ropes. "Just give me a few minutes!"

"Three escapology patches? Really?"

"Yeah!" the girl beamed "Houdin-Bee Class One, Houdin-Bee Class Two, and Houdin-Bee Class Three!"

"Does your scout troop also give out patches for stupid pun names?" Bjorn snidely remarked.

"Hey, there's no reason to be rude!" she snapped, sounding upset and annoyed for the first time since he saw her.

"Ahem…we just kidnapped you, Ms. Higgenbottom. You really should expect us to be at least a little bit rude."

"What do you mean kidn…oh yeah, there's that.", she said as if it hadn't occurred to her until now that she had been dragged here against her will. "What's that about anyway?"

Bjorn sighed with some relief. Finally Ms. Higgenbottom had decided to ask him a question that normal people would be asking in their situation.

"Before I tell you that, Ms. Higgenbottom, I just want to reassure you that you are in no danger. You see, me and my associates have this ongoing...conflict with Tommy Turnbull and his friends. I'll fill you in on the details later. We merely brought you here as some kind of...security."

"Isn't that just a nicer way of saying I'm a _hostage_?"

Maybe she isn't so naïve after all, Bjorn thought.

"But wait a minute, what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, I said we had this conflict going with Tommy Turnbull and his friends, and you've been spotted with Gus a lot lately…"

"Uh oh, this isn't gonna end well."

"I just told you, you are in no immediate danger…"

"That's not what I meant. If you thought you could get to Gus through me…gosh, I like him too, but only as a _friend_! I had no idea he felt that way…!"

Bjorn laughed. "It's not like that. As far as I know, Gus only thinks of you as a friend, too. To tell the truth, we were going to abduct Gus' parents, but my associate was afraid to encounter them."

"Heh heh, they do tend to freak people out. I don't see what the big deal is, though. I mean, they're self-supplied and use eco-friendly energy and all that stuff that people in San Fran are always aspiring to...Ah, that should do it." She moved her shoulders back and fourth, and wriggled vigorously a few times before the ropes slid off her and fell to the ground.

Bjorn nodded approvingly. "Not bad."

She got up, stretched her arms and popped her knuckles.

"Told you I just needed a few minutes!" she commented smugly.

"Bessie!" a third voice butted in. Bessie Higgenbottom turned and looked at a schoolmate that she, until now, had thought of as nothing more an acquaintance. But right now, any familiar face seemed like a dear friend.

"Lola! Wow, they got you too, huh?"

"**She's not a hostage!"**

"Easy now, Yolanda. Ms. Higgenbottom had no way of knowing that.", Bjorn objected

Bessie went up to the bespectacled woman standing in the doorway. "Say, there's something familiar about you..." she muttered.

"I suppose all black people look alike to you" Adhabu remarked snidely. To her annoyance, this did not have the intended effect on the girl, who looked she just didn't understand.

"Uh…no, ma'am. I'm pretty sure there's something familiar about you, specifically." Bessie said, scratching her head.

"Bessie, why don't we…I mean, let me give you the tour." Lola told her, smiling nervously as she noticed her mother's facial expression.

"Yes you children run along now, and leave us to attend to our business in peace." Adhabu growled

Bjorn winced as she saw his ally allowing the two girls to leave the cell. "You do realize, that girl is supposed to be a prisoner?"

The woman shrugged. "We're on a plateau in the prairie. If she wanted to escape, where would she go? Just leave her under my daughter's supervision, and she won't cause us any problems"

"You trust your daughter's judgment too much, Yolanda. Except when it comes to her choice of boyfriends. But you are also right - Miss Higgenbottom has nowhere to run. Now if you excuse, I have another appointment…"

"If you don't mind, I'll join you. I would like to meet young Turnbull's parents."

"Sure, why not?" Bjorn agreed, surprised by the civil tone in her voice. 'If you don't mind' was the closest thing to politeness he had ever heard from Y. Miriam Adhabu.

He opened the door the next room. At least nobody had tried to hogtie the Turnbulls. Although he had to admit it might've been a good idea to restrain Mrs. Turnbull somewhat. The first thing she did as Bjorn entered the cell was to run up to him and slap him hard in the face. Instinctively, Adhabu tried to go between them, but Bjorn signalled for her to stay away.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "Who are you people? Where have you taken us?"

"And where is my son?" Dwight added

Bjorn snorted. "Son_s _you mean. You have more than one, last time I checked. Your oldest son, the one _you_ actually care about, is probably still sitting at home, scared stiff from his little encounter with my minions. But he matters not. It's your youngest son I'm interested in. He's still free and unharmed, as far as I know. But I suspect he will be here soon enough."

"Bjornson! Another voice butted in. "I have been talking to my minion, and something is definitely not right here…" The voice belonged to Dr. Kamikazi, who let out a yelp of surprise and tension as he looked into the eyes of Debbie Turnbull.

Bjorn smiled "I know, doctor, everyone wants a piece of me today. I'm afraid you have to wait for your turn. But feel free to stay here and help me interrogating these prisoners."

Debbie raised her eyes and walked over to Kamikazi. "Junior?"

"Don't call me that, my name is -"

"Does your mother know that you're involved in this?" Debbie interrupted him.

"Yes, doctor. Mothers worry about their children, you know…" Mrs. Adhabu added sternly. The evil scientist looked from one woman to another, not knowing which one made him more nervous. Then he muttered something about "otherwise occupied", and hurriedly left the cell.

Adhabu turned to stare at the increasingly confused Debbie for a few seconds before she stated "I'm guessing you are Tommy's mother…"

"A-**HA**! _**Now**_ who thinks all people of another color looks the same?" a shrill voice exclaimed triumphantly. Adhabu turned around.

"You again!" she groaned. "Lola, please get her out of here."

Lola hurriedly escorted Bessie out of the Turnbulls' cell.

"Lola, wait!" cried Debbie, who'd just caught glimpse of the two teenaged girls. "Tell us what this is about."

"Young Bjornson and I will tell you as much as we think you need to know." Adhabu said to her. "And then", she continued, turning her head towards Bjorn. "He will tell me more about Dr. Kamikazi, won't you, Bjorn?"

"If you insist."

* * *

_A/N: AGH! I really have to apologize, this chapter is WAY late, and it's just a transitional chapter where nothing much really happens. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway, and at least I already have the next chapter well underway. _


	19. Die Mensch Maschine

"I sure hope this works, professor." Tommy muttered. In one hand, he was holding his best friend, who was still unconscious and in the process of being charged. In the other hand, he was holding a small bottle.

"Me too, Tommy", Moshimo responded. "I've been very hesitant to use the energy additive, let alone develop it, after all that's happened. But right now it's our best chance. Who knows what enhancements Bjornson might have added to Protoboy's already powerful body."

Tommy looked at his friend again, and nodded. Things were looking bleak. Bjorn had his parents, and he had Lola and Robyn. Brian had wrecked one of Moshimo's secret labs looking for the professor, and made a mess out of Ro's…Robert's home at the Orlando Gilbert estate. But at least it was a small comfort that the iceberg lab Brian had wrecked was mostly a decoy, not containing any of the professor's most important devices.

In the corner, a middle-aged man with glasses was sitting with his head bowed. Tommy walked over to him.

"You look awful, Klaus." Tommy told his former enemy. "Is it the damage to the Orlando Gilbert estate that gets you worried?"

The German billionaire looked hurt, probably by Tommy's suggestion that property damage would be his greatest worry at a time like this. "_Nein_, the insurance company covers most of it. My worries go much deeper than that_, Junge_. You see, before I got back in contact with ze Professor…"

The discussion was interrupted by Miu-Miu entering. As always, her expression was stoic, but there was a hint of tension in her voice.

"Keichi, dear? I think you'd better come and see this…"

The professor followed his wife, with Tommy and Gus tagging along anxiously.

It was obvious that the professor was fond of holographic communication. In the control room of his flying headquarters, there was a communication platform with a holographic image projector. Neither the professor nor Tommy was very surprised to see who had somehow managed to gain access to Moshimo's communication system:

"Professor Moshimo!" Bjorn exclaimed "I'm glad I finally had a chance to speak to you face to face. You've been very difficult to reach, but we finally found the coordinates of that fancy flying base of yours."

"I'm coming for you, Moshimo!" a coarse voice butted in.

Moshimo's heart sank as he saw the voice's owner on the holo-projector.

"Brian…" he muttered. From the projector, the man-yak looked back at him without the slightest hint of sympathy.

"Where are my parents, Bjorn?" Tommy demanded.

"They are in my custody, and for the time being they are safe and unharmed." Bjorn assured her.

"I want to talk to them!"

"Not right away, Tommy. I think they still need some time to adjust after what they just learned."

Tommy turned pale. "What they just learned….do you mean you just told them about…"

"About pretty much everything. After dragging them here, I felt they were entitled to a proper explanation.", he commented dryly. "And I think they believed me. At least your mother must've believed me, because right now, she is much angrier with the professor than with me."

Tommy groaned.

"Hey, you guys! Aren't you forgetting something important here?" Gus interrupted angrily, and pointed accusingly at Bjorn. "What have you done to Bessie, ya psycho?"

Bjorn smiled "Why, Gus, that _concern _I hear in your voice? Maybe Kamikazi had the right idea when he suggested we abducted young Higgenbottom after all. Well, you needn't worry. Your…whatever she is to you, is doing just fine. I haven't harmed her. On the other hand, she is about to drive _me_ insane…"

"Hi, Gus!" a loud and cheerful voice exclaimed as if to prove Bjorn right, and turned up on the projector image with a soda cup in her hand. "Wow, hologram phones! Anyway, how are you guys doing? This place is great. They've got all sorts of cool gadgets here, and I can go everywhere I want as long as I'm with Lola. I dunno why, but it's like they're all afraid of her or something… "

"Or something." Bjorn sneered. "Besides,. You're not with Lola right now, I notice. BROTHER!"

A figure that everyone in airship could clearly identify as Bjornbot Prime appeared on the screen. "Again, ja?" he said tiredly and dragged away the girl-scout.

"What do you want?"

"Well, a lot of us already got what we wanted. Mrs. Adhabu already got her daughter back…General Yakitori got his new upgrades…Sussi got a generous advance. But Protoboy is still waiting for his final showdown with Robotboy, and there were a few other things he wanted, as well…"

"He no get bride!" Bjornbot Prime's voice bellowed from outside the projector image. "When she finished charged, you tell him she is –"

Bjorn suddenly got a very nervous look on his face and hurriedly reached for a specific button before Bjornbot Prime could finish his sentence. The holographic image disappeared.

"Bride?" the professor uttered in confusion.

"That's what Protoboy called Robyn." Gus pointed out. "I claim my bride, he said."

Tommy and the professor stared at him, surprised.

"What? I pay attention to stuff!", Gus said indignantly.

"He's right, professor" Tommy added. "That's what he said just as he picked her up."

Moshimo stared at the empty platform for a few seconds before he muttered.

"Gods and monsters…"

"Say what?"

"No, nothing", the professor added hurriedly. "But let's keep Protoboy's and Bjornbot's words in mind. It might become useful later…"

He looked up and at the platform. As if on cue, the connection was restored, and Bjorn once again appeared as a holographic image, apparently all alone this time.

"You asked me what I want", he continued, trying to act as if nothing else had happened. "Well, for one thing, I want the man who I know is there with you, but who for some reason has decided not to show me his face. I want Klaus von Afoncügel!"

Slowly, a door opned behind Tommy, Gus and the professor, and the man in question came walking in. After his upgrades, the once diminitive Klaus was now roughly the same height as Professor Moshimo, but currently his posture and expression made him look like a very small man indeed.

Tommy looked at him. "Klaus…?"

"In my country, we have an expression" Bjorn began explaining. " 'Mye vil ha mer' – That means 'much wants more'. After hungring so long for strenght, did you really think Klaus was going to settle for that of an average man?"

"But that's all I gave him." The professor pointed out.

"Yes, _you_. I, on the other hand, offered him more."

Noticing that everyone in the room was staring at him, Klaus sighed and sat down.

"Oh sure, he might have wondered why I didn't offer him enhancements _before_ the professor gave him cybernetic surgery. It was insanely expensive, of course. If I had offered it to him for a reasonable price, he would've been suspicious. Anyway, what I added to his cybernetic limbs were nothing out of the ordinary – Some super strength, added stamina, a few hidden guns, and most importantly right now: Flight

"Klaus, is this true?" the professor asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"Did you really put your fate in Bjornson's hands just like that?" Tommy asked, his voice sounding a little more judgemental.

The German tycoon looked down. "Who could haff foreseen something like this two years ago…" he muttered. The he raised his head and said with more confidence: "If I didn't haff superpowers, I would never haff been able to escape the Fredonian army and warn you time!"

"And if you had not hacked into the Royal Fredonian Bank's files and humiliated the Fredonian army, I would not have had to appease the King by bringing you to him as a war trophy…" Bjorn added. He picked up a large, silvery remote control and studied it closely before he staretd pushing buttons.

"You gave me full control", he announced, waving the remote. "I made you, Klaus and now it's time to have you recalled…"

Klaus yelped as a pair of rockets, quite similar to then ones Robotboy used for flying, emerged from underneath his feet, and a sudden jerk threw him off balance as he rose a few meters up in the air. He yelled as his body, seemingly operating without his consent, crashed into the ceiling.

"Now, I considered causing Klaus to wreck the entire place before I forced him back here" Bjorn explained. "But it's kind of difficult to destroy something bit by bit with a remote. And besides, I can't take the chance of you plummeting to your deaths. I need you alive, at least a little bit longer. So just a few more crashes, and Herr Afoncügel will be on his way…" with that, he moved a lever that caused Klaus to crash straight into the holo-projector, smashing it to pieces. Badly bruised, but still able to stand up, Klaus tried moving of his own, but the rockets forced him to move upwards. Then he smashed into the wall a few times before he stood swaying in the air.

"Ooh, that had to hurt." Gus commented.

It was obvious that without visual contact, Bjorn had some difficulty moving Klaus' robot parts with precision. Tommy seized his old wristband and pointed it at the inanimate Robotboy.

"He's not ready!" the professor objected, noticing what Tommy was trying to do.

"It's the only chance we have!" Tommy responded.

Ro reactivated, slowly and awkwardly, as if he was waking up with a headache. Bewildered he looked around.

"How did I get here?" His voice was blurry. "All I remember is…something hit me…"

"I'll explain later!" Tommy said anxiously. He pointed at Klaus, who was doing his best to resist his involuntary movements as he moved back and forth between the ceiling and the walls. "But listen, Bjorn has taken control over Klaus's body! You need to stop him from harming himself. And us."

"Okay."

Ro made a few spastic movements, staring at his feet. "Why can't I fly?"

"I told you he wasn't ready." Moshimo explained to Tommy. "His flight functions aren't working yet."

"No problem!" Ro said confidently. A blaster materialized from his arm. "I can defuse Mr. Afoncügel's cyber parts from here." Before anyone had a chance to interfere, he started firing into the air. Robotboy's aiming skills were usually perfect, but at this moment his blaster arm was shaking, and his shots were arbitrary, with none of them actually hitting Klaus. However, the shots were still getting close enough to make him even more anxious and frightened.

"Robert, stop!" Moshimo cried. "Your aiming functions aren't ready either. If you keep this up, you could hurt Mr. Afoncügel badly or even killing him!"

Ro put down his gun. "Then what are we going to do?"

For a few seconds, Klaus was flying a little lower. Tommy jumped up and grabbed him by a leg, trying to pull him down or at least steering him in a more controlled direction. But one second later, Klaus jerked straight upwards again, with Tommy in tow.

"Let go, Junge!" the middle-aged man cried. "You can't stop this anyhow"

"I'm trying!" Tommy answered. "But my foot is stuck in - "

That's all he had time to say before Klaus crashed through a window, and Tommy had no choice but to hold onto him for his bare life.

The professor and Tommy's friends could only watch as Tommy and Klaus disappeared into the skyline. That is to say, Robotboy tried desperately to go after them, despite the professor's repeated reminders that he wasn't ready to fly yet.

"You were hit with a particle beam gun which completely emptied you of energy." He explained when Ro had calmed down a little. "You need to charge up for at least a couple of more hours before you're fully operational again.

"Hours! I do not have hours!" his robot son protested. "Is there any way I can power up faster?"

"Well, I did prepare this energy additive.", the professor said, picking up the bottle. "But I really think you need to finish charging before you take –"

"Let me have it!" Robotboy demanded. "Now!"


	20. Shirtless In The Lion's Den

Klashnikov stared impatiently at the door leading to the office Bjorn Bjornson had set up in Brian's mountain base. She felt somewhat humiliated to be kept waiting by the young punk, yet again. But she was a mercenary through and through, and so she went where the money was. Nevertheless, she was beginning to question why Bjornson had hired her in the first place. It wasn't as if her level of skills were needed to kidnap a girl scout. That creepy, old Japanese man could probably have handled it alone. Why did he keep looking at her so nervously, by the way? Sure, she was flattered when people found her scary, but something Dr. Kamikazi's behavior freaked her out.

She heard footsteps from the corridor. It was Mrs. Adhabu and her daughter.

I'm going to my room, mom." said the daughter, sounding surpringly casual under the circumstances.

"That's good.", the bespectacled woman replied, just as she sat down by the same table as Klashnikov.

"What are you doing here?"

"Bjornson asked me to come.", the Russian blonde replied. "He wanted to talk with me about something important."

"What a coincidence. I'm here because I want to talk with_ him_ about something important."

The two tight-looking women stared at each other knowingly. Then Mrs. Adhabu turned towards the empty wall and said:

"Mom. She keeps calling me mom."

Sussi looked at her in bewilderment. "Who?"

"Lola, who else?" She sighed. "Mom. A word invented by westerners to show love for your mother, but not respect. If I had tried to use such that word with my own mother, she would have beaten me until both my ears and my rear turned red. But I'm tolerating it from Lola, because it reminds me that despite everything, she still loves me, although I have never given her much reason to."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you happen to be nearby", she replied bluntly. "And because you are the only other woman here. I thought you might understand."

This answer was enough to pique the curiosity of Susanna Breasha Klashnikov, or "Sussi" among friends – that is, if she had any friends, and Sussi would be the first one to admit that she didn't. She never really tried to befriend anyone. Friends were just an inconvenience, and she had other ways of getting her will. And lovers? All she had to do was to enter a club or a beach and within a few minutes she could have any nearby male she wanted. She never had to make an effort.

Basically, other people were just means to an end for her. And yet, Sussi found herself mildly fascinated by the African woman, enough to do something she would never ordinarily do. She would confide in someone.

"Yes, and no", she retorted after reflecting on this for a little while. "I am certain that I have no motherly instincts in me. Strict upbringing, on the other hand, I understand all too well. The stories I could tell you…"

**~ 0 ~**

Tommy's mind was racing. He was clinging on to a German cyborg flying across a prairie wasteland, towards the place where all of his enemies were gathered. Bemusedly, he wondered what else could possibly go wrong.

He noticed that Klaus was beginning to slow down and fly lower. They were probably approaching Bjorn's hideout. Within a minute, they were going for what looked like a cave entrance on a big plateau.

"Tommy!" Klaus shouted.

"What?"

"When we get to ze plateau, jump off me!"

Tommy looked down, hesitating for a moment.

"There's no us in point of us gettink captured!", he continued. "Jump off, and look around. Hide! Free your parents! Just do something, anything!"

Tommy nodded. The man had a point; anything was more helpful than getting captured.

"Okay!"

As Klaus' body took a turn and moved towards the cave entrance, Tommy took a leap. If Klaus had had the time to look back, he might have been worried to see that his young companion didn't land on the flat, seemingly man-made plateau, but instead fell down a hillside slope. Tommy fell for a few seconds before his shirt was caught in a bush. The twigs tore up his shirt, but it stopped him from falling. Getting up, he could see he didn't fall far, and the slope wasn't too steep. It only took him a few minutes to get back up to the plateau.

Upon reaching it, Tommy assessed the situation. It still didn't look very good, to put it mildly. He was standing just outside the lion's den without Robotboy, without weapons of any kind. Nor did he have the wristwatch that could've gotten him in contact with Ro or the professor. He didn't even have shirt anymore. Not that being shirtless was a bad thing, since the heat was so intense, he probably would've taken it off anyway. The only shade was coming from the cave entrance, which meant that before too long, he would have to move closer to the enemy before he died from dehydration.

Tommy swallowed and decided he might as well jump into it - Or more correctly, creep slowly into it. After taking a moment to relish in the cool shade provided by the cave entrance – the heat was already getting to him – he moved slowly, but determinedly through a nondescript corriodor, pondering on his next move. With any luck, he'd find some kind of weapon lying unattended, or at least some kind of gadgets he could use as a weapon. His gadgeteering skills kept getting better. His luck, however, just seemed to be getting worse by the minute on this particular day. He kept moving until he came upon a door, the first door he'd seen so far. He put his ear towards the door, but couldn't hear anything. Swallowing again, he decided he had to start his search somewhere, and slowly moved the handle. The door wasn't locked, and apparently, nobody reacted when he tried opening it. It was not until he crossed the doorstep that he heard a voice exclaim:

_"Tommy!"_

Tommy looked around…and smiled. His luck was finally getting better.

* * *

_To be continued soon, promse. Next chapter is half finished anyway._


	21. Kamikazi Must Die

_A/N: This is going to be another villain-centric chapter. I hope you don't mind, because I've been planning this part of the story for a __very__ long time, and I'm glad that I finally got to post it. _

* * *

When big egos clash, the result is never pretty. Dr. Akira Kamikazi, like Bjorn Bjornson, had an _enormous _ego. Naturally, he hated having to wait for an appointment to see the brat, no matter how much this brat was in charge of the operation. When he - along with his Constantine, of course - was finally given a chance to speak with Bjornson in private, he entered a large room that was mostly bare, except for a few chairs and some kind of multimedia system with a large screen.

Bjorn was sitting in an armchair in front of the screen, with his back turned on Kamikazi and Constantine. To Kamikazi's added annoyance, he didn't even turn the chair around as they entered the room.

"If I understood you correctly, you wanted to issue a complaint, doctor?" he said calmly.

"Damn straight!" the evil genius bellowed, "Constantine informs me that my formulas and blueprints have been removed from my living quarters!"

"And you think that perhaps it is I who have taken them?"

"I can't be sure, but..."

Bjorn turned his chair around and faced his guest. "Well, I have. I need them."

Kamikazi roared. "Now listen here, punk! I agreed to help you out, but I never agreed to give you free access to my works!"

"Then maybe you should take better care of them, doctor. You've been careless with your secrets before."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me, doctor... All those cameras you hid all over the Bay Area – You must've made thousands of hours of footage over the years."

"What's your point?"

"What happened to the footage after Kaziland was raided?"

Kamikazi shrugged. "Meh, the FBI took all of it. But what can you do?"

"The authorities doesn't have those recordings, Kamikazi, _I_ do. "

The mad scientist was startled.

"Furthermore, I was the one who tipped them off - _After _I had snuck into Kaziland to steal your recordings."

"Y…y…you expect me to believe in that?" Kamikazi yelled at him, hoping against hope that young Bjornson was bluffing.

"We'll see soon enough", Bjorn picked a memory pin out of his pocket and waved it nonchalantly. "This contains copies of some of the more memorable moments. Let's start with this interesting little conversation…" He inserted the pin, and the familiar face of a silicon-lipped blonde turned up on the screen.

_- Yes, very good, agent Klashnikov. That will be all!_

_- Ooh, I love it when you're blunt. You know I would do anything to please you. For my only desire is to make you happy. Very, very happy!_

Bjorn froze the frame and turned around. "Now, I have reason to believe that if Sussi was to see this recording, she would be thinking: When did I ever say that? When was I ever flirting with Dr. Kamikazi? And flirting so shamelessly, at that? And she'd probably be no less puzzled by this next piece of footage:"

_- You may think you have won. But you'll never defeat Dr. Kamikazi! Never! He loves me, you know. We're going to get married. _

I'm pretty sure, _Akira_ -" Bjorn said with the voice of someone who's calling a man by his first name to mock him, not to be friendly, "- that Sussi Klashnikov cannot remember ever having expressed a desire to marry you!"

Dr. Kamikazi was trying to stay calm, but it was becoming less and less convincing by the second.

"Ahem, well…love makes you do strange things." He said weakly.

"So does chemistry! Bjorn snapped, triumphantly holding up a bottle. "My robot double has just informed me that even after your job was done over at the Turnbull's, Constantine spend several minutes going through Tommy's belongings. Perhaps you had told him to look for this?

When Kamikazi realized what this bottle was, he gave up all pretensions of acting calm.

"GAAHH! It…that…you…you little…!"

"So you did make an actual love potion. Now I haven't actually had time to test it, and it's not like I need that kind of stuff for myself anyway, but Constantine assured me it's most effective."

"CONSTANTINE!"

"What? That's a lie!" the large henchman assured him. "I never –"

"Remember that hangover you had back at my cabin?"

Constantine paused and thought back. He got a terrified look in his eyes.

"GAH!"

"That's right, Doctor. Your minion can't hold his liqueur. Nor his tongue."

With a mix of schadenfreude and annoyance, Bjorn observed how the sobbing Constantine was already grovelling and suggesting punishments for himself while Kamikazi yelled at him. After listening to them carrying on for a few minutes, he fired a shot into the air to get their attention, temporarily forgetting that he was inside.

"Oh well", he remarked, looking at the hole he'd just made in the ceiling. "I wanted a window there anyway. And at least it got your attention. Now listen up, gentlemen, because I'm not finished, not by a long shot. You, Kamikazi, have no reason to throw stones. Do you realize how much footage you've recorded of your own actions over the year? How much evidence that could be used against you? Your obsession with putting cameras everywhere and recording everything might become your downfall."

Bjorn sat down again and turned his attention to the screen.

"We've both met Mrs. Adhabu," he continued, "And we know how protective she can be of her daughter. Now, imagine how she would react if she knew some of the perils you've gotten young Lola into…"

Bjorn typed something on the screen, and a file map simply entitled "Lola" turned up. For a minute or so he quickly went through some old film clips.

"Hmm, here's one of Lola locked in a gigantic birdcage inside Kaziland…." He muttered. "Here's one of you with Lola hogtied in a Tunnel of Love boat…but that's trivial stuff, really. Ah! Here's where it's starting to get interesting…This is one of you in a hotel room…and you've got Tommy and his little friends – including Lola - tied up, again. What's the deal with you and bondage? And this is where you say your classic line:

- _Show me how to activate Robotboy, or Constantine will turn you all into tapas!_

Constantine screamed with surprise.

"That was his words, not mine!" he cried. "I would never actually…"

"…Cut those kids into little pieces? Well, my dear Constantine, you might have a better case if you weren't grinning madly at the time." Bjorn quipped dryly, freezing the frame. As Constantine saw himself on the screen, he broke down sobbing.

"But I was…I was…"

"…Actually making tapas at the time, I know. But I – eh hehe - _accidentally_ erased that part."

He picked up the remote. "But we can't dwell too much on each clip. There's still plenty to go. Ooh, here's one from some tropical island…"

Dr. Kamikazi let out a yelp.

"Ah, you know this is going to be a good one, don't you, Doctor?" Bjorn commented and turned his head slowly for a few seconds before he turned his attention back to the screen.

"Is that supposed to be you posing as professor Moshimo there? Robotboy I can believe, but did you really fool Tommy with that cheesy disguise? Guess not, since you had to throw your genetically engineered ape army at them. What are they doing to Tommy and his friends - Including Lola? I can't see them over all those gorilla bodies…ah, there they are – tied up _again – _and sitting on some sort of plateau…Robotboy got them loose, I see but…oh dear, they were nearly all eaten alive by some great, hulking ape beast there…a beast that _you_, dear Doctor, created and controlled, I believe."

This time, Kamikazi just groaned. He knew where this was going, or at least so he believed.

"And there Robotboy goes and saves the day again.", Bjorn continued. "Of course, the day wouldn't _have_ to be saved in the first place if it wasn't for him, but I digress. The point is, Lola certainly has been put through a lot thanks to you, but there's still one more clip I wanted to show you…ah, here it is…" for a few minutes, the trio watched the edited clip in silence until Bjorn exclaimed. "Well, that might have been your finest moment yet, doctor! You nearly killed Lola from _old age_! Again I say: Imagine if Mrs. Adhabu were to see this…"

"_Enough! Enough!_" Dr, Kamikazi bellowed. "I know where you are heading with this, Bjornson! You want to extort me in return for not showing these videos to Klashnikov or Adhabu? Fine! Tell me what you want!"

Bjorn chuckled. "My dear Kamikazi, you misunderstand. I am not going to show these video clips to Klashnikov or Adhabu…"

"Ah, okay then…"

"No, I am not _going to_ show these video clips to Klashnikov or Adhabu. I _have_ shown them the video clips already!"

Kamikazi paled. This time, he didn't even bother trying to convince himself that Bjornson was bluffing. It was clear from the young man's facial expression that he wasn't.

"You…you planned this all along, didn't you?" Kamikazi screamed accusingly.

Bjorn shrugged nonchalantly. "Got it right this time.". As you old-school villains would say: You've outlived your usefulness, Kamikazi. I have your formulas and your blueprints. I don't need _you_ anymore. And this way, I can get rid of you without getting blood on my own hands!" He picked up a cell phone-like device, called a number and said just one sentence: _"He is here."_

"Fine, but if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me! Constantine!", he barked, "Kill that brat with your bare hands! _Now!_"

Constantine hesitated, as he was clearly not used to being ordered to commit outright murder.

"In a few seconds, your henchman will have different priorities." Bjorn commented, unfazed. "Like making desperate attempts at protecting your life."

As on cue, the door was blown open by a figure that turned out to be a very angry and very heavily armed Sussi Klashnikov. Following right behind her was a surprisingly calm-looking Y. Miriam Adhabu.

"Kamikazi!" she yelled, pointing a rifle at the doctor's forehead. "You disgusting old man! What else did you do to me while I was under the influence of that perverted potion of yours?"

"Well, I-"

"No matter!", she interrupted him. "I am going to kill you anyway, just to be safe!"

"Agent Klashnikov, wait!" Kamkiazi tried, "Ambassador Kingsley Mbola has offered a 100 000 dollar reward to whoever brings me in alive."

The Russian mercenary seemed to be pondering at this offer for a moment. Then she pointed her rifle towards Kamikazi again. "I never thought I'd say this, but there are some things in life that are more important than money. ", she snarled. "I'm feeling generous today. Ambassador Mbola can have your corpse – for free!"

But at this moment, Constantine did what Bjorn had suggested he should be doing – He protected his master's life, by throwing himself at Klashnikov. He only managed to stall her for a few seconds before she turned him over – judging form Constantine's cries of pains and his position, Klashnikov had probably kicked him hard in the unmentionables – but it was enough for Dr. Kamikazi to get a head start. He ran up out of the room and up a staircase. Klashnikov tried to aim at him, but was stopped by Y. Miriam Adhabu.

"Not so fast." She said calmly.

"How can you defend that monster, Yolanda, after having seen the crimes he has committed against your daughter?" Klashnikov demanded to know.

"You misunderstand, Sussi.", the African woman replied, still calm. "When I ask you not to act so fast, it is only because I don't want you to kill Kamikazi too quickly. Don't you want him to _suffer _first?"

Klashnikov gritted her teeth as she answered: "_Intensely!"_

"The let's do this my way. Here's the plan…" Mrs. Adhabu whispered the rest into the ear of Klashnikov, who turned pale as she got to know the details. For a moment, she looked as if she was about to throw up, but she pulled herself together.

"Yolanda", she said in astonishment "You are a very sick woman!" She then paused and smiled. "I like it!"

TBC

* * *

A/N: I usually don't list the Robotboy episodes I'm referring to, but there were so many direct references this time that I thought it might be useful. The events that Bjorn is talking about are taken from (in order of appearance): _The Babysitter _(quoted),_ Constantine Rising, Valentine's Day, Kamikazi Nightmare _(quoted), _The Homecoming, _and _Zap! You're Old_


	22. Second Chances

At this point everyone seemed to have forgotten about Bjorn Bjornson being present, which suited him just fine. He preferred being a mere spectator to the scene of Y. Miriam Adhabu and Susanna Klashnikov making plans for what they were going to do about Dr. Kamikazi.

"Remember what we agreed on.", Adhabu concluded. "Kamikazi is to be taken alive!"

The Russian blonde just nodded, and ran determinedly out the door.

Adhabu turned around. "You, on the other hand…" she added, addressing Constantine who was still lying on the floor, groaning. As he tried getting up, he noticed to his surprise that Adhabu was trying to throw him something.

"You must die for the crimes you have committed!" she declared. "But I'm going to give you a chance to defend yourself."

Bemusedly, Constantine picked up the object she had thrown to him. It was a gun.

"What? Why…?"

"I've taken notice of your behaviour Constantine Santos, and quite honestly. you do not seem like a bad man to me. I am going to assume that the heinous acts you helped committing against my daughter were done out of loyalty to your master. That does not excuse what you did, but I will give you a fair chance."

"By giving me a gun?", Constantine asked, still puzzled. He hardly ever used guns. In fact, Kamikazi had never even thought him how to use one. His fighting abilities relied on a combination of muscles and mass.

Adhabu pulled out a gun of her own. "Correct", she replied. "Well, I haven't got all day. Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

The African woman didn't reply; she just slowly raised her own gun and pointed it at him.

"Mrs. Adhabu, please listen" Constantine, his voice nervous and awkward, "There's no need to…"

"I have had it up to here with people who are trying to waste my time!" she snapped. "You have until the count of three to engage me in a fight, or I will shoot you where you stand!"

Constantine raised his gun, only to have it fired out of his hand in less than one second. He then attacked Adhabu in the only way the former sumo trainee knew how to: By throwing himself at her. Too quickly for him to react, his opponent jumped onto his head, grabbed his right arm and twisted it nearly 180 degrees. Constantine cried in pain as she used his disconnected arm to throw him back down on the floor. Then she climbed back onto his head. His right hand made crunching sounds as Constantine's opponent jumped down on it, and he cried in pain once again. In desperation, he got up and tried to grab her with his left arm; Adhabu reacted by grabbing his left hand with her own left hand, and his left arm with her right hand. Swiftly, she twisted his arm in the same way as he had done with the other, and squeezed his fingers until they made a crunching noise. Then, as Constantine groaned in pain once more, she kicked him hard in the back of his head, making him fall over on his stomach.

"I won." she informed her fallen enemy. Not that there was ever any doubt about the outcome." She leaned across Constantine's enormous back and pointed her gun towards his head. "Like I said, you do not seem like a bad man to me, so I will allow you a swift death. Your master won't be so lucky. If the circumstances allow it, I can keep him alive, but in pain, for weeks. I only need to keep his nerves intact, that's all…"

Constantine sobbed, and Adhabu instinctively knew it was not because of his own pain. She smiled.

"Maybe I'll have you cut into pieces and forcefeed your remains to Kamikazi as tapas…"

"Mrs. Adhabu…" groaned Constantine, who realized what she was referring to, "About that tapas episode…I swear…I wasn't really going to…"

"Spare me" she snapped. "Do you really think any excuse is going to save you at this point of time?"

"No", said a voice from the door. "But I might."

Bjorn, Constantine and Y. Miriam Adhabu all turned around to look at Robyn. She was in her robot state.

"Robotgirl! How did you escape?" Bjorn yelled, losing his cool for the first time in a long while."

"Protoboy let me loose." Robyn replied sultry. "But I cannot say that I'm especially grateful, because he was coming on to me. I might not have escaped his advances, had not your own Bjornbot Prime come to make advances at me too. I snuck away while they were fighting over me."

"Damn, I told Brother to stay put!" Bjorn growled. "Then again, I hadn't expected Protoboy to make his move so quickly."

Not bothering to comment on this, Robyn instead blasted the gun out of Adhabu's hand, then fired another blast which destroyed the gun Constantine had been holding.

Adhabu sighed. "You're going to keep me from harming Constantine, aren't you?"

"I'm not feeling very happy about it, but yes." Robyn replied.

"Fine, I will just finish my job later, then." Adhabu commented, throwing Constantine a _this-isn't-over_ look. "Meanwhile, I will follow Bjorn and see how he handles this new Protoboy situation. Although it cannot end well."

"Oh ye of little faith." Bjorn. "I've been preparing for just such a situation, wait and see…"

The two self-conscious masterminds of the operation walked upstairs to face the jealous fighting robots, leaving Robyn and Constantine alone.

"Robotgirl! You saved my life!" Constantine cried.

"For the second time, but who's counting?" She replied laconically. Then she pointed her blaster gun at him. "You realize, I cannot just let you go."

The hunchback nodded.

"Now, put your hands up!"

"I can't" Constantine whined.

Robyn eyes beamed red for a few seconds, as she did a body scan of Constantine. Then she responded:

"You're right. Both of your arms are dislocated and seven out of ten of yours fingers are broken. You're partially crippled, and essentially harmless." She retracted her blaster gun. "But I still need to take you to the police…eventually."

He nodded again.

"Can you stand up?"

From his position, Constantine tried to shrug. "Maybe if you give me a push…"

Robyn extended an arm and pulled him up. "I'd fly us both out of here if I could, but I don't have enough power", she explained while she put Constantine's arms in a sling. Then she added glumly: "We might as well go upstairs and see how my "suitors" are doing…"

**~ 0 ~**

Tommy never doubted that he would see Lola again. But he didn't it would happen this quickly.

Someone up there liked him. He was in the enemy's lair, but by chance, he tried the first and best door. And it turned out it was the door to Lola's private chambers.

She was currently dressed in what looked like a more traditional African outfit consisting of a light brown, frilly top with short sleeves and a red-purple skirt. It was one that Tommy had never seen before, and he assumed her mother had brought it to her. For a moment, the two teens just stared dumbfounded at each other, as neither of them could believe what they were seeing. Finally, Lola ran up to Tommy and hugged him tightly.

"Now, where was I?" she said, still holding him tightly. "Oh yes…" she kissed him, shortly, but passionately. "I love you _too_"

She smiled smugly, then looked him up and down for a minute. "How did you get here? And…and…why are you shirtless?" She seemed to be studying his upper body with peculiar interest.

"It's a long story", Tommy began. "You see, Klaus had this -"

"Come to think of it, I don't want to hear about it right now." She interrupted him. "I just want to enjoy this moment."

"But Lola", Tommy objected, "It's important that we find –"

"_No!_" she snapped. "The only thing that's important right now is that we have each other. I've lost you once, Tommy, and the way this is going, I'm probably going to lose you again soon! I don't want to think about anything else right now than the two of us!" She leaned towards him and slowly began stroking his upper body. When she came to his nipples, she began to giggle.

"What?", Tommy asked, confused.

"You know, technically, I just got to second base!"

Tommy tried to roll his eyes at this comment, but he also realized that he was blushing hard.

"Oh just play along, will you?" Lola commented. Then she grabbed him tightly and kissed him again. This time, it lasted…well, actually, Tommy had no idea. He went into a trance of pleasure, not unlike the one he had when she kissed him at the party. Only this time he enjoyed it even more because the feeling of being watched by a crowd full of people wasn't lurking in the back of his head. This time, it was only Lola and him,

Or so he thought.

"That will be quite enough, thank you", a sharp, firm voice interrupted them. It was the voice that Tommy least of all wanted to hear, especially in this particular situation.

**TBC**


	23. Robotboy Unbound

It occurred to Tommy that this wasn't even the first time he'd been caught by one of Lola's parents while making out with Lola. It was, however, the first time he'd been caught by a parent who had recently tried to kill him. You could hardly blame him for being a little bit startled. The fact that he was bare-chested probably didn't help either. That part was not because of Lola's advances, but Y Miriam Adhabu had no way of knowing_ that_.

He slowly let go of Lola, then placed himself between mother and daughter.

"When did you arrive?" Adhabu demanded.

Somewhat puzzled by this question, Tommy hesitated.

"Uh, about an hour, I guess…"

The woman in front of him raised her eyebrows. "That early? Then how did you…Well no matter!" She grabbed him by the arm, her grip being remarkably strong.

"Mom, remember what you promised!" Lola cried.

Y. Miriam Adhabu stopped, then slowly turned around and looked at her daughter.

"I know what I promised, Lola, and I'm keeping my word." She turned back to Tommy, rubbing his jaw as if she was inspecting a farm animal. "I won't hurt the boy. Of course, if I was given the slightest reason to believe that he was forcing himself on you, I would've been forced to break my promise. There _are_ a few things that are even more important than keeping your word. Only a _very few_ things, mind you…"

She let go of Tommy. "But I could tell that was not the case here. Clearly, _your_ overactive hormones were as much to blame for this act of premature passion, dear daughter."

"Mom!" Lola cried, turning red with embarrassment. She was no less embarrassed when her mother continued:

"But really, you didn't have to tear his shirt off! If you can't show any more self-restraint than that…"

"But I didn't –" Lola began

"The Mbolas have a reputation as fiery lovers" Mrs. Adhabu continued, ignoring her protest, "It looks like you are taking after your father's side in that regard…_and don't you think I didn't notice the gleam of anticipation in your eyes just now, Turnbull_!" she snapped as she grabbed him by the jaw again. For a moment, she just stared at him, breathing heavily. Tommy realized it was about time he changed the subject.

"Ma'am?" He said in the most respectful voice he could muster. "So…I guess I'm a prisoner now?"

Adhabu looked at him. "Not really, Turnbull. The situation has changed."

"Why? What's happening?"

Adhabu told him.

**~0~**

_Fifteen minutes earlier…_

When Bjorn Bjornson and Y. Miriam Adhabu reached the main hall, Protoboy and Bjornbot Prime were busy wrecking the place. Keeping his distance to this spectacle, Bjorn looked to Robyn who followed right behind him.

"Robotgirl, what's the situation here?" he asked.

"I told you! Protoboy and your stupid robot double started fighting over me." she said, sounding revolted by the idea.

Knocking Protoboy across the room, Bjornbot paused long enough to shout at Bjorn: "Brother, you promise, when time come, you take care of Protoboy!"

"I know, and I've got it under control.", he told his double as Protoboy leapt at Bjornbot once again. Bjorn then turned to Adhabu, Yakitori and Robyn, clearly wanted a bigger audience when he was going to brag about his masterful planning. Ignoring the noise that the two fighting robots were making, he slowly, he picked a device out of his pocket. "See, when I had Protoboy reassembled, I was foresighted enough to take precautions. There's a chip installed in his systems that will short-circuit his entire system when I push this –"

"**YOU MEAN _THIS_ CHIP?"**

Bjorn turned around to see Protoboy standing stoically right behind him. He opened his left hand and showed Bjorn the chip in question. Then he dropped it, before he dropped something he was holding in his right hand. It was Bjornbot Prime's head.

"You think you so smart…brother", Bjornbot snarled, his circuits still buzzing.

"**AND HE WRONG"**, Protoboy added. "**YOU THINK ME NAÏVE, BJORNSON? YOU REASSEMBLE MY BODY, DO YOU THINK I WOULD NOT SUSPECT A TRAP? I FOUND CHIP AGES AGO."**

Yakitori and Adhabu looked at Bjorn bemusedly. For the first time, they saw signs of defeat in his eyes. Protoboy grabbed Bjornbot's headless body and threw it through a window.

"**NOW THEN", **Protoboy said addressing everyone present, "**WHO IS WITH ME?"**

"I have no particular loyalties to Bjornson" General Yakitori declared. "I'm with you."

"And I'm not fool", said Y. Miriam Adhabu. "I will help you out. All I want in return is safe conduct for me and my daughter."

"**YOUR DAUGHTER TRICK ME ONCE. BUT I WILL NOT HOLD GRUDGE, FOR YOU HAVE BEEN A WORTHY PARTNER, AS PUNY HUMANS GO. BESIDES, I HAVE BIGGER FISH TO FRY. " **

"Like who?"

"**LIKE DR. KAMIKAZI. HE ABDUCTED ME AND CORRUPTED, MAKING ME WHAT I AM TODAY."**

Adhabu shook her head. "For all his experiments, have Kamikazi ever accomplished else than making people want to kill him?"

"**NOT KNOW, NOT CARE."**

Adhabu was about to try and convince Protoboy – like she'd already done with Sussi – that she knew better ways to make Kamkiazi suffer for his sins than with crude, overblown violence. Until everyone's attention was caught by a dark red light coming from outside. Protoboy walked slowly and confidently towards the windows, but he didn't even have time to get halfway across a room before a glowing figure came crashing through one of them.

It was Robotboy, of course, but not quite the Robotboy they knew. His presence was overwhelming. Everything around him seemed to be surrounded by a dark, red glow while Robotboy himself radiated of an electric white light. Even his circuits were glowing brightly. Furthermore, he had a look of madness and rage on his face, acting far more manic than any of the people present – Protoboy included – could ever remember having seen Robotboy before. Then he began superactivating with a flash that nearly blinded the bystanders.

"**KAMIKAZI CAN WAIT. I HAVE NEW PRIORITIES**." Protoboy announced, preparing to superactivate himself. Adhabu and Yakitori ran aside, barely escaping the impact created by Protoboy's superactivation process.

"It looks as if the rules of the game have been changed once again, general." Adhabu commented dryly as she witnessed Protoboy flying towards Robotboy, ready to engage him in combat.

"Indeed, ma'am." the old cyborg replied. "I think the sane strategy right now would be to get out of here."

"You still have your private aircraft, don't you?"

"I do, ma'am. Can I offer you a ride?"

"Can it take me and my daughter to Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea?"

"It can take you anywhere on the globe. But hurry, ma'am. Under the circumstances, I don't want to wait too long before take-off."

"Have patience, general, I will make it worth your while. I also need to bring agent Klashnikov… and Kamikazi."

**~0~**

"Equatori-wha?" Tommy asked

"Equatorial Guinea. Google it, as you westerners says. My family has a close relationship with the president." Adhabu replied, pushing Lola in front of her.

"What are you going to do to Dr. Kamkiazi?"

"Unpleasant things, is all you need to know. He will get what he deserves."

"Not the Feast of the Red Ants?", Lola squealed in horror.

"Only if I don't have time to prepare something more painful." Her mother replied sardonically. "As for you, Turnbull, you need to get your own priorities in order. The thing that is your best friend is fighting for his imitated life up there."

Tommy hesitated. On the one hand, she was right – Ro was here, and he needed to see to him. On the other hand, he was bout to lose Lola again, and at this moment, it was the least thing he wanted. The memories of the kiss, of her warmth, was still too strong….

He turned around. Lola was gone, along with her mother.

"Not that I mind, but why were you suddenly in such a hurry to get away from the Turnbull boy?", Y. Miriam Adhabu panted as her daughter dragged her through the corridors.

"I had to force Tommy to make up his mind", Lola explained. "He needs to be with Robotboy right now."

"To be fair" her mother commented, "I don't think there's that much left of the Robotboy you know right now."

**TBC**


	24. Supernova

_A/N: What can I say? I wanted to finish this chapter much sooner, but I didn't know exactly what the fight should look like, nor how long the chapter should be. I'm **really** sorry this chapter is so late, but I really think I'm out of this rut now, and I can only hope you are still interested in reading._

* * *

Protoboy hesitated. Only for a few seconds, but general Yakitori, whose body was roughly ¾ robotic, could sense that Protoboy was actually uncertain, even as he leaped at his brother with his usual defiance. Yakitori would have been uncertain himself. Robotboy's body, now in its superactivated form, was still glowing so much it made the entire conference room darkly red. Mildly surprised, the general noticed that Tommy Turnbull had appeared on the scene. In the ongoing battle, nobody else seemed to have noticed young Turnbull's presence, and did it really matter now anyway?

"Robyn", Tommy said to the fembot, "What's happened to him?"

"It must Moshimo's energy additive", she replied with certainty, "Lola told me about it and how it works. It's like a steroid to robots, so dangerously powerful the Professor never lets him use it. Until now, anyway."

The two robots were exchanging punches, and Yakitori noticed that Robotboy was hitting Protoboy relentlessly with tremendous force, so fast and brutally that Protoboy barely managed to get in a punch. Admittedly, the general had only had seen Robotboy in action on a few occasions prior to this, as he had only rarely given the boy robot reason to fight him or his machinations. And yet, he sensed that something was, if not necessarily wrong, then at least different about Robotboy. Currently, he was grabbing Protoboy by his left foot and shaking him vigorously before he smashed an operation board, using his opponent as a sledgehammer. Then he leapt at him and tried his best to smash Protoboy straight through the floor. It didn't really work, but the operating board was reduced to a rubble. Yakitori wondered whatever that board was used for. Probably something important, judging from Brian Yak's reactions. He was currently yelling something at Bjorn, who responded in kind.

Protoboy was getting the upper hand, at least for a moment. He managed to give Robotboy a swift kick in the stomach plate, causing him to crash into a wall, and before Robotboy managed to resume control, Protoboy activated a blaster and started firing at him. Robotboy jumped back from the first shot, back flipped from the second shot, and gave a mighty leap back from the third hitting his back into a wall. That's when he turned his head and noticed Tommy…

Protoboy activated his machine gun function and fired a round of shots at the Robotboy, who saw it coming and jumped out the way. Rather than responding to the fire, he suddenly moved upwards, crashed through the ceiling, and flew away. Protoboy actually seemed to hesitate for a minute. Like Tommy and most people who knew anything about Robotboy, he probably realized that this was not a move of cowardice; it was to keep Tommy out of harm's way.

Protoboy didn't even bother to follow his opponent through the same hole in the ceiling that Robotboy had just made. He made a new one.

As Protoboy reached for the sky, leaving a mess of sawdust, splinters and boards in his airborne path. Yakitori turned to an annoyed-looking Bjorn Bjornson. "Let me guess", the old cyborg quipped dryly, "You wanted a sunroof there anyway."

Ignoring this remark, Bjorn merely said "I'm not out of the game yet, general."

Yakitori looked up at the holes and activated his binocular functions to study the fighting robots closer. For a minute or so, Robotboy and Protoboy kept exchanging punches in the air, as neither would allow his opponent to get far away enough to get another clear shot with their respective blasters. Then Robotboy's red glow suddenly increased notably, and he threw a punch strong enough to hurl Protoboy forty to fifty meters away before the older robot managed to turn midair. Preparing to increase speed before striking back, Protoboy noticed that the red glow surrounding his brother was getting even stronger. The very sky above them was colored by the glow. Robotboy began to emit a rattling sound that became increasingly loud, until it resembled an eerie war cry.

Yakitori focused on Protoboy's moves, and made an interesting conclusion: Protoboy was getting afraid! Like Yakitori noticed, even from afar, Protoboy realized that his brother was about to unleash some sort of force that he might not be able to protect himself against. And as if to confirm this, Robotboy grabbed his opponent by a leg and forced him closer. By now, all of Robotboy was glowing all over; only his shape revealed who – or what - he was. Then the shape became a blur as well, and he and Protoboy seemed to emerge to one humongous, glowing ball.

"It must be his supernova function." Robyn explained. "Moshimo have told me about it, but I never thought I'd get to see it. It would've killed everyone if he released it in here - Maybe except for me. That's why he had to lure Protoboy outside."

Tommy looked at her in bewilderment. "Ro never told me anything about a supernova function."

"It can only be triggered by the energy additive. We promised to keep it a secret, because it's so dangerous, Moshimo didn't want anyone else to know about it."

There was an explosion. It didn't go boom; in fact, it hardly made a sound. But if it was difficult to hear, it was all the much easier to see; the entire sky went red from the enormous, red explosion. For a while, the entire group – friends, allies, enemies, humans and cybernetic lifeforms – just stared up in the air. It seemed like both robots had been eradicated by the explosion. But then two little dots emerged from the afterglow, and still glowing tremendously, they began falling to the ground. As the two dots came closer to the ground, Yakitori – and eventually the rest of the group – could see that both Protoboy and Robotboy were in fact whole, even now, but that Robotboy was the only one who gave the impression of being conscious. He appeared to be steering himself and his opponent away from the gathering of people, and in the direction of…

"Mooayy ship!" Brian shrieked. And indeed, the two falling robots were headed straight for the hangar where not only Brian's, but also Yakitori's aircraft had been parked. The glowing robots tore straight through the hangar roof as if it was paper, and as they crashed, the whole place exploded in a blaze of fire. Running towards the smoking hangar the group ran into Lola and her mother.

"So, Turnbull!" Y. Miriam Adhabu, said accusingly while holding onto Lola with both arms, probably fearful that she would run to Tommy, "You got your robot to destroy our means of escape. Very crafty, very clever."

Tommy didn't even bother to argue with her. The only thing on his mind was to find out if Robotboy was okay. As the smoke was still lying thick over the surface, he moved towards the wreckage, noticing something crawling underneath it. To his great relief, it was Robotboy, back in his normal mode; no longer glowing, and no longer superactivated. He was dragging along an unconscious Protoboy, who was also back in his normal mode.

"Tommy! Robyn!" Ro exclaimed happily. "It's okay…Protoboy is out cold…Figuratively speaking."

"But what about yourself?" Tommy asked anxiously.

"I am…I am…Do not worry, Tommy…help will come…"

Then, to Tommy's horror, Robotboy started to rattle and spasm uncontrollably until he shrank down to his "toy robot" mode.

"Ro…you…you" Tommy stuttered.

Bjorn got up, looked around, and walked slowly towards the two currently immobile robots. Brain hurried afterwards. For a few minutes, the two of them examined the robots while general Yakitori, Tommy, Robyn, Lola and her mother observed them from a distance. Finally, Bjorn got up and declared triumphantly:

"They're both out cold! Just like I planned!"

"Oh please, Bjornson, you did _not_ plan for this!" Tommy snarled.

"Well, I suppose you could call it a backup plan", Bjorn said with a grin. "Luck or calculation, it doesn't matter now. I have the upper hand again!"

"Not quite!" Robyn cried, and aimed her blaster at Bjorn. "Let me and my friends go, or I'll - "

"Brian", Bjorn said, addressing the yak-man, "You did tap her battery, right?"

"Of course. I did." Brian replied dully. "She's bluffing."

"That's what I thought", Bjorn commented and looked at Robyn, who had difficulty hiding her disappointment.

"Bjorn!" Tommy shouted.

"Huh?"

"I really wanna know, why did you start this whole mess, anyway? Why did you invite all of Ro's enemies for this pajama party? What are you hoping to accomplish?"

Bjorn laughed. "You want me to reveal my secret plan? How cliché…"

"Are you going to build an army of robots to help you conquer the world?"

"That would be even more clichéd. But I will tell you what my plan is, Tommy, especially because my plan also involves you. Now I'm not a single-minded old geezer like Dr. Kamikazi, who thinks he can conquer the world in an afternoon if he can only get a hold of that one superweapon. One super-powered robot, or even a small army of them, does not conquer the world, not. But in the long run, my plan involves world dominance by the aid of robots, yes it does. Now that Protoboy and Robotboy are out of the game, Brian will be free to dispose of Moshimo, like he's sworn to me multiple times that he will. Soon, Kamikazi will also be dead –"

"He will, Turnbull." Adhabu interrupted. "Believe me…"

"And then his enormous library of genetic research will be at my disposal. Most of it already is. But even more importantly, with Moshimo out of the way, the world's most advanced robot technology will be ripe for the picking…"

"You do know that Moshimo has hired assistants?" Tommy butted in.

"I do, and when Moshimo is out of the way, I will give them the offer of working for me exclusively, or not working at all. Or breathing. That goes for you as well, Tommy. I know you're next in line for an internship at Moshimo's lab. As soon as I've monopolized the world's robot production, I will get a jump start on the production of robots for commercial purposes. With a robot in every home, I will have the opportunity to control whomever I prefer for my own -"

Bjorn's speech was interrupted by a blunt sound. For a moment, he gaped stupidly at his audience before he fell to the floor, revealing the figure of a blonde, lanky teenage girl with a frying pan standing right behind him.

"That" she said determinedly, "was for threatening my brother's life!"

TBC


	25. Split Cavalry

_A few minutes earlier…_

"C.H.O.P., I can't thank you enough for helping us out on such short notice" Professor Moshimo said to the control panel of his temporal vehicle.

"No problem at all" replied the digital, yet surprisingly warm and friendly voice of the control panel. "Anything for Robotboy, the only real friend I've ever had. I'm only sorry I'm not in a better shape, or I could've flown us here faster. But ever since my contract with Lance Chestwax was terminated, I've had difficulty getting regular maintenance."

"Never again, C.H.O.P., I promise. My assistants and I will see to you from now on." The professor assured him.

But deep down, Moshimo was sorry he didn't have the chance to prepare himself better. Robotboy had insisted on taking the energy additive and be on his way, even though the professor had really wanted him to finish charging first, ignoring his warning that absorbing the additive without being fully charged could lead to him suddenly running out of juice. In despair, he told Robotboy to use the supernova function that only the additive would allow him to, but only if he was at an open place with no organic beings around. The supernova might have enough power to stop Protoboy, but it would kill any bystanders instantly.

The professor could only hope that Robotboy would use his powers with this much care, and that it would suffice. His assistants were not available on such short notice, and the only other fighting robots he could muster at such a short notice...

"What did you call this, Gus?"

"Benjamin called it Emil-E" Gus replied. "He says Bessie built it based on various prototypes from her early scouting days."

Moshimo studied the stout construction in front of him. "Your friend built robot prototypes when she was in the girl scouts? She must be quite the prodigy."

Gus shrugged. "Eh. She's pretty smart. And she's still in the girl scouts, you couldn't drag her away. Anyway, Ben insisted we bring her robot along."

"So it could save her creator?"

"Actually, Emil-E just makes him jumpy He doesn't trust that thing without Bessie around."

And a t least they had other powerhouse to help them out as well…

"Ook ook!"

"We're getting there as fast as we can, Ludwig." The professor assured the combat-clad orangutan.

"Professor?" the voice of their vehicle interrupted. "We are about to land. And while it's probably nothing, but I noticed that we suddenly lost some weight when I was trying to find a landing ramp…"

**~ O ~**

"You do know that Moshimo has hired assistants?" Tommy butted in.

"I do, and when Moshimo is out of the way, I will give them the offer of working for me exclusively, or not working at all. Or breathing. That goes for you as well, Tommy. I know you're next in line for an internship at Moshimo's lab. As soon as I've monopolized the world's robot production, I will get a jump start on the production of robots for commercial purposes. With a robot in every home, I will have the opportunity to control whomever I prefer for my own -"

Bjorn's speech was interrupted by a blunt sound. For a moment, he gaped stupidly at his audience before he fell to the floor, revealing the figure of a blonde, lanky teenage girl with a frying pan standing right behind him.

"That" she said determinedly, "was for threatening my brother's life!"

Everyone present, except for Brian, gaped, but none more so than Lola and Robyn.

"_Dee Dee_?" Lola shouted.

"I know what she's talking about." Robyn explained. "Her brother has been one of the professor's interns for the last six months. He is very young, but it's remarkable, some of the things he's already –"

"Never mind that!" Tommy interrupted her. "How did she even get there?"

"I hitched a ride with the professor." Dee Dee explained.

"The professor gave you a lift?" Robyn asked.

Dee Dee hesitated, looking a little bothered. "Weeelll…let's just say that I hitched a ride."

"I don't think anyone cares if you were a stowaway right now" Tommy commented. "The important thing is that the professor is here. Can you take us to him, Dee Dee?"

The girl hesitated. "Well, to be honest, I didn't pay much attention to –" as if to exemplify this last statement, Dee Dee was suddenly hit from the side by a swift front kick, causing her to fall sideways, groaning in pain.

"No trashy meeddel Americaine schoolgirl ees going to spoil this for me!"

"Princess Justine!" Tommy and Lola shouted in unison.

Dee Dee tried to get up, but Justine grabbed her arm quickly and slammed her against a wall.

"So she does know kung fu", Adhabu commented with a faint smile. "Only basic moves, from what I can see, and I would have put her out cold within sixty seconds, but still..she has some potential."

Justine studied her battered opponent sliding down on the floor. For a few seconds, she looked as if she was going to kick her a few times, just out of spite, but then she thought better of it. The Princess turned to address the crowd of enemies and dubious allies:

"You might theenk you 'ave us cornered because the aircrafts 'ave been destroyed!", she began. "But you would be wrong. I've called for a private jet from the Fredonian embassy in Mexico, no questions asked." She went over to Bjorn, who was showing signs of regaining consciousness. "Then we can be off, cherie", she said tenderly to Bjorn.

Something just occurred to Tommy.

"Justine!" he shouted "I came here with Klaus…actually we were dragged here…you wouldn't happen to know here he is?"

The platinum blond princess smiled. "In my custody. I already 'ad 'im roughed up a leetle, but I promeesed father to keep him alive long enough for 'eem to 'ave 'ees punishment delivered on Fredonian soil. Afoncügel shall pay dearly for the humiliation 'ee caused us – what?" Justine suddenly noticed that her audience wasn't looking right at her or Bjorn, but rather above them.

The last sound Justine heard before she had an enormous, hairy fist pressed against her face was:

"_Oook!"_

"I think what they were trying to tell you…" said Gus smugly, "…was, look behind you!"

As the redheaded boy stepped forward, Tommy and Lola noticed he was supporting a badly battered Klaus von Afoncügel.

"Ah gut, you made it." The German billionaire muttered upon seeing Tommy.

"Never mind me, how are _you _doing?"

"I'm…I'm remembering what it used to be like to be so weak." He groaned. "It was bad, really bad."

"Well, it'll be bad if you let Ludwig go on like that, too." Lola observed. The orangutan bodyguard was currently throwing around Justine, who kept screaming in terror.

"Ach, well personally I would've liked for Ludwig to roughen her up the way she did to me, but for you _Kinder_, I'll do the right thing…"

"Princess Justine, huh?" Gus commented. "Haven't seen her in years. What was she doing here anyway?"

Lola scratched her head "Well, as far as I could tell, she's Bjorn's girlfriend."

Gus rolled his eyes. "First the Professor and Mui-Mui, then you guys –" he pointed at Tommy and Lola – "and now this. Sheesh, seems like robot engineers gets all the hot babes!"

Just then, Bessie came riding on her own, admittedly crudely assembled, robot.

"Gus!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You brought Emil-E to rescue me!"

He smiled, and muttered to himself: "But maybe it goes both ways…"

**~O~**

From their holding cell, Dwight and Debbie Turnbull could hear noises, but they had no way of telling what they meant, or if their son was involved in any way. Both of them - but Debbie in particular - were at the edge of their seat with anxiety at the point of time when the door suddenly opened, and a friendly-looking, elderly Asian man in a labcoat entered.

"Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull!" he exclaimed happily. "I cannot tell what a great relief this is! My name is Keiichi Moshimo. Please come with me, we need to -"

"_Moshimo!_" Debbie yelled. The very mention of the name seemed to detonate a fuse within Debbie. She immediately began to slap the professor repeatedly while shouting random abuse and threats:

"_You! You're the one who's put my son through all of this! You're the reason why we've all been through this! I only just found out how many times my son's been in mortal danger since he was ten, and it's all because of your mad Frankenstein experiments! What made you think it was a good idea to leave a superweapon in the hands of a child you sick, mad, perverted, freaky –"_

Moshimo was already pretty badly battered by the time Dwight Turnbull had the courage to intervene and try and restrain his infuriated wife.

"I'm sorry about this, sir, but when Debbie gets worked up –" he began.

"It¨s okay, I guess I deserved it" the professor responded. "Ambassador Mbola reacted about the same way when I told him. Well, admittedly he didn't get quite this physical –"

"Mbola!" Debbie cried. "He knew and he didn't tell us?"

"Well he only found out recently…"

"And when were you planning on telling _us_?"

"Madame, please, Robotboy has not even been living with Tommy for quite a few months now. I didn't think you were in any danger…"

"_No danger?_ A mad robot and a sumo wrestling thug just broke into our home –"

She was about to begin another physical attack on the professor when she was interrupted by a calm, deep voice:

"Believe me, Debbie, there was a time when I would be only too happy to help you putting fingerprints on the professor's face. Maybe even on his _neck_…"

Debbie Turnbull temporarily halted, and turned around. "Mr. Mbola, sir – "

"One of these days, Debbie, I'm going to throw you off that 'Mr. Mbola' habit. It's Kingsley to you. To the both of you."

He sat down and continued. "We're no longer in any hurry, by the way. Like I said, I was indeed very upset with the professor, as upset as you are right now. But it got complicated. I don't know if young Bjornson told you, but Robyn is also one of the professor's creations. And I could not very well get rid of her; my wife would never forgive me."

"Your _current_ wife." Debbie added sharply.

"Ahem, so Bjornson told you several things..."

"Your _former _wife told me quite a few things, too" Debbie clarified. "Charming woman."

"Please, we can talk about her later?", the ambassador said uneasily. "My point is, either way I looked at it, I was involved. Moshimo's creations were a part of my life as well. So I decided to make the best out of it. See, I have a secret dream…"

"And what would that be?" Dwight hurriedly asked, mostly because he thought his wife had been dominating the conversation too long

"I've always wanted to produce the first commercially successful automobile ever to originate from an African nation. Diamonds may be forever, but sooner or later, even the Mbola diamond mines will be emptied. I need ideas for the future. My financial advisors keep telling me that breaking into the car industry is not a realistic goal, unless we can get access to superior technology. With the aid of the professor, this goal is now within reach…"

"Save it for the investors!" Debbie snapped "Do as you please, am...Kingsley, but as soon as we find Tommy, he's out of the professors's life!"

"That would be a waste of talent" Moshimo commented. "He has a bright future in robot technology, if you'd only let him -"

Debbie gave the professor a scowl. "Give us one good reason why we should allow Tommy to continue getting involved."

Mbola got up, and said with a smile: "How about a college scholarship?"

Debbie and Dwight looked at each other.

"Keep talking", they said in unison.

* * *

_**TBC**_


	26. The Unknown Soldier

The next half an hour or so was in a turmoil, but it became increasingly clear to everyone that professor and his allies had come to save the day, only to find out that the day had at least been partially saved by Robotboy and his ultimate weapon. Bringing spare batteries, the professor insisted on repowering Robotboy before he would listen to any explanation.

"Protoboy!" Ro cried out the moment he regained consciousness, "Is he…"

"He's still out cold." Tommy said.

"Good." He got up and looked into the eyes of Moshimo.

"Father, did you happen to bring a skin with you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did", Moshimo replied.

"Did you bring a toolbox as well?"

"I always bring a toolbox."

"Good. We should disassemble Protoboy before we repower him, just to be safe."

"Why repower him at all?", Gus wanted to know. "Just leave him to rust!"

"He's still my brother", Ro responded as he picked up Protoboy's inanimate body. "I won't give up on him yet. Kamikazi turned him, but maybe it's still possible to turn him back. But I want to wear my human skin when I take him back the lab. I want him to get used to the idea of humanity, both the inside and outside of it. Where's your vessel, father?"

"Hi Ro, remember me?"

Surprised with joy as he recognized the voice of his old friend, Robotboy ran towards C.H.O.P. Meanwhile, Moshimo listened to Tommy's recollection of the most recent events leading up to Protoboy's defeat, with occasional and slightly confusing inputs from Gus.

The rest of gang – which had grown quite large over the course of a few minutes – didn't know what to do until Dee Dee pointed out:

"Hey…where did Lola go?"

**~0~**

"Give it up mom!" Lola cried as her mother once again tried to drag her away. "It's come too far! You won't get away with it."

"I'm not going back to jail", Y. Miriam Adhabu responded. "As a rite of passage, I once spent two months in the Kalahari. I can cross this modest piece of prairieland easily."

"And what about me?"

Lola's mother hesitated.

"You made a promise, and I'm keeping you to it -" her argument was interrupted as an Asian woman who, smoothly and barely noticeably, jumped down in front of them. Adhabu let go of her daughter.

"You must be professor Moshimo's wife", she remarked. "I recognize you from the descriptions"

"I've learned a thing or two about you two as well, lady" Miu-Miu said calmly. "I've heard that you like to give your opponents a sporting chance. Well so do I…" she pulled spare katana out of her costume, and threw it across the floor. Adhabu picked up the blade, smiling.

"Very well. It's on."

"Don't hurt her too badly!" Lola cried.

Both women looked at her, then at each other.

"She's talking to _you_, obviously", they said in unison.

Furiously, Adhabu leapt and struck

As Lola watched them fight on, it occurred to her that she wasn't entirely certain _who_ she was talking to. Her mother drew first blood leaping into the air and striking her opponent with considerable impact. But Miu-Miu quickly resumed control of the situation, dodging Adhabu's attacks with a series of moves that left little doubt of who was the fastest one of the two. Realizing this, Adhabu seemed to try and compensate for her lack of speed by making her attacks more offensive and brutal. However, Miu-Miu responded to this by desisting from her defensive moves, and attacking Lola's mother more directly. The two women crossed their blades incessantly and with increasing aggression. For a few minutes everything was just a blur, at least from Lola's point of view, as the two women kept crossed blades with neither of them making any signs of dodging, not even for a second.

Anxiously, Lola pondered about the outcome. If Miu-Miu won, she would spare her mother, she was at least 99 % sure of that. But if Adhabu won…she wondered how she was going to explain it to Professor Moshimo. "Sorry" just wouldn't do it.

Suddenly and somewhat surprisingly, Adhabu decided to dodge one of her opponent's attacks in order to leap up in the air and strike back with increasing impact. She succeeded in getting Miu-Miu down on the floor and locking her with her knees. But when she tried to go for the Japanese woman's throat, Miu-Miu elbowed her hard and swiftly in the jaw. For a moment, Adhabu lost balance, and Miu-Miu managed to push her off.

They circled each other about twice, and then Adhabu made the first move, lunging for her opponents' abdomen with the tip of her sword. Miu-Miu dodged her attack with her face with the butt of her blade, leaving a burn mark on her face. Adhabu rubbed her cheek for a second before she moved towards Miu-Miu again. She dodged another one of her attacks, and then made a leap in the air, considerably higher than anything Adhabu had been seen doing so far. For a brief moment, the African woman looked taken aback by this particular move. Then Miu-Miu successfully put another mark on her face, too swiftly for her to defend herself properly with the blade. Lola could hear her mother growl in pain a bit, and as she tried to try to raise her katana again, she found that she was unable to keep up with the speed and intensity of Miu-Miu's fencing any longer. It took less than two minutes for the Japanese woman to strike the katana out of her opponents' hand.

"Finish the job." Adhabu demanded as Miu-Miu pointed the katana towards her throat.

"You are a brave woman, but nobody has to die here today." Mie-Miu responded.

"Yeah mom, it's the end of the road." Lola said, staring out a window. "There's a crowd of policemen moving through Bjorn's hangar right now. There must be at least a dozen of them, and they're all wearing different uniforms - Including one with a Cassaian uniform. I guess dad didn't want to take any chances."

Lola gave her mother a pleading look. "Please…give yourself up." Adhabu sighed, and sat down by the window, next to her daughter.

"With my track record, I'm not getting out anytime soon", she sighed. "Lola, it looks as if you're going to have to take your children to jail to see their grandmother."

"So you're going to want to see your grandchildren?"

"Of course!"

Lola smiled coquettishly.

"No matter what they look like…?"

"Well, I don't see what–" Adhabu interrupted herself. "Oh I see, very funny!"

"What?" Lola responded, still smiling slyly.

"You and that Turnbull boy? It's not going to come too that! You are too young. It won't last!"

"Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

**~0~**

"Yakitori, I'd advise you to leave." Moshimo told the old cyborg as soon as he had a better overview of the situation, and Protoboy had been disassembled. "Before too long, Ambassador Mbola will be here with an international team of police officers to arrest everyone who's been involved in this operation."

"They can't touch me. I am stateless."

"Why do you want to help out Yakitori anyway?" Tommy wanted to know.

Professor Moshimo looked at uncertainly at Tommy, and then at Yakitori.

"It's okay _Keiichi-chan_, you can tell him", the general eventually said.

Moshimo sighed and sat down. "You see, Tommy - During the war, my father was working for the Japanese government as a developer of weapons. His master plan was to create an army of super-soldiers using cybernetic parts."

"An army of cyborgs, huh?" Gus suggested.

"Funny, I don't remember reading this in the history book." Bessie added. "And I had it memorized."

Nonplussed, Tommy looked at Robotboy, who had just put his human skin back on. Ro gave him a shrug to signal that this was news to him as well.

Moshimo looked at the general. "An ambitious young officer, Kotogara Yakitori here, volunteered for my father's experiments. In return, he was made general – So you see, the title is real enough. As you can all guess, the experiments didn't move as fast as the war, and long before Yakitori was ready to enter battle, the war was lost for us."

"Whaddaya mean?" Gus demanded, "We _won_ the –"

"The professor grew up in Japan, Gus." Tommy reminded him.

The redheaded teen thought about this for a moment. "You mean the Japanese were fighting _against _us? What war was this?"

"Gus?" Bessie said patiently. "You know those tutoring lessons I've been offering you…?"

"Anyway", Moshimo continued, "Yakitori ran away from my father's lab right after the war. However, my father continued to experiment with creating life through machines, and he inspired me to do the same. With irregular intervals, Yakitori would return to my father's house, to beg or sometimes threaten him to add more cybernetic parts. I met him several times when growing up."

"Hence the name 'Keiichi-Chan'?", Ro asked his father, who turned red with embarrassment. In response to this scene, Yakitori allowed himself a very faint, but smug, smile.

"Well, he sort of became like an honorary uncle to me", the professor admitted. "He was a convenient, not to mention very voluntary, guinea pig for our experiments."

"I was obsessed with raising above humanity." Yakitori himself added. "Until there was, as the host at the Evil Genius Gala put it, not much left of me. Now I just feel empty. It's been years since I even considered trying to take over the world. Most of the time, I just spend deteriorating at the space station I built for myself."

He turned to Robotboy: "Robert…I understand that you're striving to obtain more humanity. Listen to an old fool who spent most of his life trying to become a robot, and eventually became one – That's no life! Becoming more human is the only thing worth striving for!"

"I've realized that now." Ro answered.

"Then my work here is done." The general went over to Tommy. "Next time you see your grandmother, please remember to thank her on my behalf - Thank her for giving me a few more moments of human emotion. I don't know if I'll ever get that feeling back again." He sighed. "How is your grandmother by the way?"

"Pretty good. She's going for a hike across Yellowstone next month."

"Again?"

"Yeah, the Himalaya expedition she had signed up for this summer was cancelled."

~0~

_It seems my uneasy allies have all failed in their agendas_, Brian Yak thought to himself, hiding in the shadows. _Well, good riddance! My goal is simple, and I need no help with my plan, which will be set in motion very soon. You die today, professor Moshimo_.

* * *

**A/N: Wow! It's been a long journey, but now I'm finally seeing the end of this story. Only two more chapters remains – One to resolve the remaining plotlines, and then an epilogue. I REALLY want to finish the whole thing before the end of August. No seriously, I think I might be able to do it! **


	27. The Revenge of Brainy Yak

**A/N: Okay, I knew it was too optimistic to think I could finish the entire story by the end of August. But I'm getting there. There's only one chapter left, and I have that one pretty much made out in my head already. Anyway, on to the story climax...**

* * *

Although his daughter was safe and his vindictive ex-wife had, against all odds, surrendered, Ambassador Kingsley Mbola still had unfinished business at the headquarters of Bjorn Bjornson. He wanted to find the unlicensed and evil, but still brilliant scientist known as Dr. Kamikazi, who had seemingly escaped during the chaos. But as it turned out, he only had to wander around with his robotic adoptive daughter for a few minutes before Kamikazi came to them, and quite willingly:

"Robotgirl, save me!"

Robyn frowned. "You're asking me for help, after all that's happened?"

"Now what's your game, Kamikazi?" Mbola demanded.

"No game!" the mad scientist cried. "Your ex-wife and Klashnikov want to kill me!"

"Well, I can't blame Yolanda." Mbloa said laconically. "As for why this Klashnikov wants you dead, I have no idea, but it's probably for a good reason."

Kamikazi just groaned desperately in response to this comment.

"However", the ambassador continued, "I have always said that the wrath of my ex-wife is something I would not wish for even my worst enemy. Which, I suppose, is you, doctor."

Mbola went down on his knees to talk to Kamikazi eye to eye, possibly as a deliberate attempt at humiliating him.

"Do you surrender?", he asked.

"Yes!" Kamikazi cried even louder. "Just save me!"

"But how do I now that you're not concealing weapons?"

What do you want me to do?" the doctor shouted, waving his arms frantically in despair and anger. "Strip down?"

"Kamikazi!" cried a woman's voice with a Russian accent from the other end of the corridor, "I got you in sight! I'm supposed to take you alive, but I never said anything about in which condition…"

"I'll strip! I'll strip!" Kamkazi cried out. "Just save me already!"

"You can keep your briefs on", Mbola commented. "Robyn, if you'd please…?"

Robotgirl, who had been given a spare battery by the professor, could feel the energy building up inside her body. She knew she had more than enough to stop one determined, but still quite human, mercenary. She could subdue Klashnikov, she could protect Kamikazi. But she didn't have to like it.

"I suppose so" she sighed, and took off the ground. At least she could fly again. That was something she'd missed.

**~0~**

"You should have stuck to experimenting on people, Moshimo!" The creature in front of the professor bellowed. "At least Yakitori gave you his consent. Unlike me…"

"Brian…", the professor began.

"No more excuses! No more lies!" the humanoid yak snapped. "And it's _Brainy Yak!"_

Gus snickered. Not very loud, but Brian still noticed.

"What!" he demanded.

"Well excuse me, but 'Brainy Yak' _is _a very silly name. Plus, I think it's copyrighted or something…"

"You're lucky that you're too insignificant to be worth killing!" Brian Yak shouted, waving his beam weapon in Gus' direction.

"Yeah, that's saved me more than once" Gus muttered, and swallowed.

"Give it up, Brainy Yak or whatever", Robotboy said. still wearing his human skin. "You can't get away now anyway."

"So I've got nothing to lose, then!" Brian pointed his blaster at Moshimo, and as Ro prepared to spring into action, he added: "Robotboy, take one more step forward, by feet or flight, and I will kill the professor where he stands!"

Ro, who was in fact about to run over to Brian and overpower him, stopped.

"Okay. But it won't work. The moment you shoot, I'll just jump in front of my father and shield him. Whatever that blaster does, I'm certain I can take it."

Brian grinned. "Father? Oh, that's cute! Let's put it to the test shall we?" He fired the in the professor's direction, and as he had predicted, Ro succeeded in jumping in front of the professor and shielding him in time.

Ro fell over for a moment. Almost immediately, he got back on his feet, looking confused.

"But", he began "But…but."

"Yes?" Brian said with a smile.

"That was a dud!" the boy android exclaimed. "There was no power in that beam!"

"Maybe you just didn't feel it?"

"Tommy, just because I'm built to take enormous pressures doesn't mean that I don't feel anything! I always feel it when someone uses force on me, but he used none!", he explained, shielding the professor, more anxiously than before. He frowned at Brian. "What's your game. Brainy Yak?"

The human yak lauged. "Quite right, there _is _a game. While this weapon _does _have deadly force, I'm not about to waste that on a robot that's close to indestructible anyway. No… " he paused and smiled smugly. "It is, in fact, a decoy. I needed to buy me some time while I prepared my real weapon." He picked a remote control out of his cape, and suddenly, a low, but ominous, buzzing sound filled the room. A small and blurry swarm appeared in the distance. "It's a very clean and simple, yet deadly, weapon", Brian began. "These nano-bugs, which I have developed myself, of course, break down biological matter at an impressive speed. And in a moment, they will begin the process of breaking _you_, professor Moshimo, down into atoms. You will literally disappear into nothing, as these bugs leave no traces, no remains at all! And none of your precious "children" with all their powers will be able to save you!"

Robotboy leapt up in the air, trying to exterminate the swarm with laser beams. Seemingly, it had no effect.

"They're too small", Brian laughed. "You can't hit them!"

"Then I guess I have to go to the source!" Ro exclaimed, tearing the remote control from Brian's hand.

"No, you fool!" he dried. "The mechanism is very sensitive! Unless I keep it under constant control, it'll go haywire!"

And apparently he was right; the swarm suddenly turned mid-air, and did indeed move away from professor Moshimo – And towards the person nearest to him. Which was Tommy.

The blond teen fell over with a bang as the swarm got in his pant legs. He groaned.

"Brian…!" the professor shouted.

"I'm on it!" the man-yak said, pushing a remote control frantically. "It was you I wanted to dissolve, not that kid. Nobody else should have to die because of our enmity."

"Gosh, how noble", Gus sarcastically remarked. "Saving Tommy from the weapon that you made and unleashed yourself."

As fast as they'd entered, the swarm flew out of Tommy's pants and buzzed aimlessly across the floor for a few seconds. "Show me how to call them back!" Ro demanded taking the remote control back from Brain before he could redirect them towards Moshimo.

"It's the button with an arrow in a circle."

Ro pressed it, and the swarm flew back into a specific container. "Good! Now then – Tommy, are you okay?"

"I guess so", his best friend answered. He was still sitting on the floor. "I don't feel any pain, at least."

There were at least two people who did not seem reassured by this claim. Lola and Debbie both ran towards Tommy with tears in their eyes, but Debbie got there first, blubbering incessantly, and hugged her son so tightly that Lola found it hard to reach him. Then suddenly she turned eerily silent…before she let out a shriek of terror that left everyone's ears ringing.

"Mom, what…" Tommy began.

"Your legs!" she cried.

"What do you mean, my legs are…" Tommy looked down for a moment before he let out a startled cry as well, and tipped over.

The crowd just stared at mother and son, bewildered.

"Tommy…?", Robotboy finally asked.

Tommy lifted himself up in a sitting position. "It seems…" he began "that my legs are simply gone."

"Gone? Whadya mean, gone?" Gus demanded.

"See for yourself", Tommy replied as he began removing his pant legs to reveal that there was nothing beneath his kneecaps.

Everyone gasped, except for Gus, who simply fainted.

"Fantastic, what a clean amputation!" Brian exclaimed, looking very impressed with himself. "Not a drop of blood! My nano-bugs are even more well effective and well-developed than I thought! Imagine what we could do with –"

Even Dwight and the professor had never seen Debbie Turnbull as angry as she was right now. Red-faced, he lifted the man-yak up in the air and shook him vigorously. "YOU DARE TO BRAG ABOUT YOUR SCIENTIFIC WHATNOTS WHEN YOU'VE JUST CRIPPLED MY SON, YOU MAD, SICK FREAK? YOU'RE WORSE THAN THE PROFESSOR! I'M GONNA –"

"Mrs Turnbull, please", said professor tried, "I will get him replacement limbs! He'll be as good as before, maybe better!" Debbie turned around. She was breathing like a whale, her eyes were red, and she looked as if she wanted to kill both Brian and the professor. But for the moment, she was standing still. "Also, call Brian whatever you like, just not 'freak'. He's always been very sensitive about that word…"

"I'll call him whatever I like!" Debbie barked. "And what sort of limbs can _you_…get…Tommy…that…will…" she interrupted herself.

"Wait", Dwight said thoughtfully, "Even I know this one…"

"No!" she said with a facepalm. "You can_ not_ be serious…"


	28. Epilogue

In the airspace high above the Bay Area, in a pretty ordinary jetliner, a pretty ordinary passenger was about to have an experience somewhat out of the ordinary. As he was casually reading a newspaper, he suddenly became aware of a scratching noise from outside. Annoyed and slightly nervous, he slowly moved his eyes towards the window.

What he saw made him (and indeed, would've made anyone) jump in his seat. His window seat was next to one of the wings, where a teenaged girl was clinging on to the hood for her bare life, screaming in despair.

"Hey! Look!" Anxiously, he screamed at the passenger sitting next to him, and pulled him towards the window. But as they both had a look outside, the girls was gone. His fellow passenger looked at him as if he was mad, and got back in his seat. But the poor man couldn't stop staring outside, wondering where the girl had gone. Was it a trick of the eye? Just his imagination? Or was there really a girl on the wing?

"HAAAH!"

Then suddenly, the girl was there again, pressing her face against the window and yelling at him. The man jumped out of his seat.

Outside, on the wing, Lola was laughing at her own guilty pleasure.

"Did you see the look on his face?"

For a fraction of a second, Tommy considered repeating Robotboy's little prank from years ago, but thought better of it.

"Told you it'd be funny," he said over the noise of the jet engine. "Well, let's go."

"Yeah, we better." Lola leaned back and let Tommy carry her off in his arms…as the engines in his new legs activated and they took off. The couple both felt an electrifying thrill as Tommy took off. Even though they were both used to flying with Robotboy, this still felt like a genuinely new experience to the both of them.

"That was cool", Lola laughed as they landed in Tommy's backyard. Then they noticed someone sitting on the old tire swing.

"Ro…"

"Tommy, where have you been? I've been waiting for you to go to the movies!"

"Well, I-"

The boy robot smiled. "Nah, I'm only messing with you."

They all laughed, although Tommy suddenly looked a bit guilty as he remembered what this reminded him of.

"So how's your new legs?", Ro asked him.

"Great, I think I'm really getting the hang of this! But really, you didn't have to give me your own legs."

"I was happy to do it."

"I would've settled for the ones you're using now."

"What, these old things?" Ro rolled up one of his pant sleeved to display the bionic leg underneath. "They can't even fly."

"And now you can't fly either. Let me at least take for a flight, just you and me, y'know, as a way of saying thanks."

"I told you it's only temporarily. Father is making me new ones. I can go for a few days without flying, I'm sure. You and Lola go and have fun…" his imitated hair suddenly began to vibrate, and his eyes widened:

"Tommy! Jumbo jet!"

"Oh wow! Lola, we've never done a jumbo jet! Are you up for another round?"

"Always." She smiled and grabbed his arm. "But remember what else you promised me today."

"Oh yeah…don't worry. I'm ready, I've practiced on this."

**~0~**

Y. Miriam Adhabu honestly didn't think she would see her daughter again this soon after everything that that had happened over the last few weeks, but that was most definitely her Lola sitting on the other side. Usually, her daughter's visits were conducted in her own cell with no prison officers in sight. But due to the most recent events, she was forced to sit behind glass in the public visit area with one officer nearby. At least for the time being. It didn't bother her right now. She was too anxious to hear what her daughter had to say.

"So Kamikazi's trial is still waiting to come up. But with the evidence piled up against him, he's not coming out of prison again for the rest of his natural life…"

"Good for him. For if he ever comes out again, I will find a way out of here, hunt him down and finish what I started! What about his lackey?"

"Constantine? He's still awaiting his trial as well. But he says he will confess everything, and his attorney says there are many extenuating circumstances. He might be able to create a new life for himself when he gets out of prison."

"No he won't! I will hunt him down as well, if he ever gets out."

Lola sighed. "Right…we'll worry about it then. Anyway, Bjorn is still a minor, so while they're awaiting his trial, he's been sent to live with his mother."

"Oh yes, a woman after my heart, if what I've heard about her is true."

"Bjorn's father says he's fully behind him, though, and he's fighting for custody as well as well as for the acquittal of his son. The evidence against Bjorn is incomplete and questionable, he claims. Lots of it seems to have been destroyed. The prosecutors are hoping to get Kamikazi and Constantine to testify against him."

Adhabu nodded. "Yes, they asked me too. But so far they have offered me nothing in return that I couldn't say no to."

"So you're not going to cooperate?"

"Not for the moment."

"But Bjorn sent you to do his dirty work."

"He gave me an offer, and I took it knowingly. I was fully aware of the risk."

"Well…as for Protoboy and Brian, they're in the professor's custody. He still thinks he can turn them good. I don't which one is the most hopeless case. Justine was sent home to her father's castle. She's a minor too, after all, and they had nothing on her anyway. And the professor let General Yakitori go, it's a long story…"

"I doubt if he could've stopped Yakitori from leaving if he wanted to."

"Klashnikov got away too, she somehow managed to sneak away while we were busy otherwise."

"I see, I see."

They changed the subject and kept on chatting for a while, both trying their best to ignore the strong tension that still existed between the two of them. After Lola left, Adhabu remained seated, pondering. There was one little question that had been bothered her throughout the visit, but which she had decided not to ask: How did Lola get here? She was usually informed about her daughter's overseas visit at least a few weeks in advance. This one took her completely by surprise. What flight did she…

Flight? Something just occurred to her…

She ran out into the courtyard and stared at the sky for a moment. Yes…there was something up there, but she couldn't quite make it out. Desperately, she looked around, and eyed to her relief an officer that she considered to be "agreeable", a young woman from her own tribal community. She walked over to her and asked her to borrow her binoculars. Focusing the binoculars, her suspicions, as unlikely as they had seemed to her at first, were confirmed.

"You actually did it, Turnbull", she muttered under her breath. "You and the professor. Damn…"

"Aren't you Mrs. Popular today", a deep woman's voice suddenly interrupted. It belonged to one of the larger guards. "There's another visitor to see you already now, ma'am."

Adhabu was escorted back to the visitors' area. This time, it was a guest she had been expecting.

"Yolanda."

"Did you have a pleasant flight, Sussi?"

"Yes, thanks to the business class ticket your family provided me with."

"I take it your meeting with Bjornson senior went well?"

**~0~**

For the first time in several months, professor Keiichi Moshimo felt that he was on top of the situation. It had been a very eventful life ever since he created his first robot child, but nothing could compare to what had been going on for the last few months. Secrets had been spilled, his "children" had gone through major changes, and some of his greatest rivals and enemies had nearly taken everything from him, including his own life. But in the end, it had all worked out. While he had been forced to confide in several people, he now had many new friends and allies, some of them very rich, and his most feared enemies were defused.

The professor's train of thought was interrupted by his most senior assistant, Nora Wakeman, a bespectacled woman in her early twenties.

"Excuse me sir?"

"Yes, what is it, Nora"

"You said you wanted to contact this Bessie Higgenbottom girl to discuss a possible apprenticeship?"

"That's right."

"Well, we just got a phone call from one of her and Tommy's friends from school, one Augusts Bachman-Turner…"

"Let me guess. He says he's her agent?"

"He's not really, is he?"

The professor sighed. "I'll drop by her mother's cafe tomorrow and talk to the girl." Moshimo got up and noticed what his assistant was carrying. "Careful with those cylinders, Nora", the professor told her. "I've always suspected that handling radioactive material while doing my experiments is the reason why I became sterile."

"I'm always careful sir, you know that", the young woman insisted. "And if the worst should happen, I can always do like you and build my own children."

"Don't joke with that, Nora."

"Well, who says I'm only joking? Don't_ you_ love your children just as much as you would if they were made of flesh and blood?"

"Certainly!"

"Well, I'm starting to believe it wouldn't be as bad for me, either. In fact, the more I think of it…"

The two scientists were distracted by the sound of glasses crashing. At this lab, any damage, no matter how seemingly trivial, could easily prove to be fatal. Running in the direction of buzzing voices lead them to a small lab where Moshimo's youngest assistant had been working on a new type of rocket fuel lately. A few vials were broken, but nothing hazardous seemed to have leaked. In one corner Miu-Miu was towering over some figure that Moshimo and Wakeman couldn't make out from where they were standing.

"Keiichi...gakusei Wakeman...the situation is under control. Fortunately, it was nothing serious this time. Quite the contrary, in fact."

Moshimo didn't know whether to laugh or cry as his wife stepped aside, still holding a katana in each hand, and allowed him to see who the intruder was.

"Dee Dee?"

"This is so embarrassing..." the voice of Moshimo's junior assistant muttered right behind him.

The professor turned towards him. "Dexter", he said in the friendliest voice he could muster, "I'm grateful for her help your sister gave us with Bjornson. But...how did she even get into my laboratory?"

The young redhead sighed. "Professor, I have been asking myself that same question my whole life"

**~0~**

After making sure that Dee Dee had been thrown out and that his assistants were both busy elsewhere, professor Moshimo snuck away to secluded part of the lab. The very moment he opened the door, he was greeted by a calm, but hostile voice:

**"MOSHIMO. YOU HAVE DECIDED TO HONOR ME WITH YOUR PRESENCE ONCE AGAIN?"** , the voice said sarcastically.

"I'm not giving up on you yet, Protoboy." Moshimo responded calmly, looking at the decapitated head of his first "son".

**"STILL THINK YOU CAN TURN ME, MOSHIMO? YOUR NAIVETE WHY YOU WILL LOSE EVENTUALLY."**

"Kamikazi turned you evil, Protoboy. It's not too unreasonable to think you can be turned back again."

**"WHAT KAMIKAZI DID WAS OPEN MY EYES, EVEN IF IT WAS NOT AS HE INTENDED. HE MADE ME REALIZE MY SUPERIORITY. I WILL START A NEW MASTER RACE OF ROBOTS."**

"And how do your plans for a harem fit into that?"

After a short pause, the robot head responded:

**"WHAT YOU MEAN NOW?"**

"I've been told that you wanted to take Robotgirl as your "bride"..."

**"IS TRUE THAT SHE WOULD BE NEITHER MY FIRST NOR MY LAST CONCUBINE."**

"Yes, interesting that you should mention that, Protoboy. There's something I've been wanting to ask you."

**"WHAT IS? I PROMISE NO ANSWERS, BUT I CAN HARDLY STOP YOU FROM ASKING."**

"Tell me about your wife…"

* * *

**A/N: This is it...this was the last chapter. I'm going to write and afterword, but it won't be part of the story itself, just a few explanations and notes. Please tell me what you think!**


	29. Afterword

Like I've already pointed out, «Human After All» is now officially over. This is by far the most ambitious and epic fan fiction I've ever written, and I don't know if I could ever top it.

As you might have noticed, I left a few possibilities open for a sequel: Bjorn's father is trying to help Bjorn, Lola's mom is trying to form new alliances, and Protoboy has a wife (or some kind of significant other) who is still unaccounted for. There are also a few details that I feel I haven't properly explored. Will Lola ever be rid of the effects of the energy additive for good? Will Tommy become the professor's apprentice? Will Ro keep his human identity?

Don't get too impatient, though. I have no plans of writing a sequel in the foreseeable future. The main reason why I finished _Human After All_ (aside from the fact that I got enough reviews to keep me motivated) was that I had a very clear idea of the story from the very beginning. Sure, I changed a few details along the way, but the essence of the story stayed the same all the way until the end. And for the time being, I have no ideas for a new epic. But I might write some shorter stories set in the same continuity. For instance, I've been toying with the idea of writing a one-shot of Tommy and Lola going on a date in Lola's home country, set immediately after Lola's prison visit in the final chapter. So we shall see.

Thank you all for sticking with me and my story for so long. I couldn't have done it without your support

Finally, here's the disclaimer:

Robotboy characters are created by Jan Van Rijsselberge and owned by Alphanim Studios. However, Robyn Lee (Robotgirl's human alter ego) Yolanda Miriam Adhabu, and Vivian Mbola-Davies are created by me. I also came up with the full names for Professor Moshimo, Dr. Kamikazi, Constantine, Ambassador Mbola, Bjorn Bjornson, Lola and General Yakitori.

Furthermore, I borrowed the following supporting characters from other cartoons:

Bessie Higgenbottom, Portia Gibbons and Gwen Wu are taken from _The Mighty B!_, created by Amy Poehler and owned by Nickelodeon.

Dee Dee and Dexter are taken from _Dexter's Laboratory_, created by Genndy Tartakovsky and owned by Cartoon Network.

Nora Wakeman is taken from _My Life as a Teenage Robot_, created by Rob Renzetti and owned by Nickelodeon.


End file.
